•»'#*' 


r  PRINCETON,    N.  J.  <J* 


Purchased    by  the 
Mrs.    Robert   Lenox    Kennedy  Church   History   Fund. 

BR  142  .T46  1896  v. 6 
Ludlow,  James  M.  1841-1932 
The  age  of  the  crusades 


Number. 


Cen  Cpocijei  of  Cijurdj  ^tfitor^ 

Tol.  YL 


\ 


THE 
AGE  OF  THE  CRUSADES 


BY 
JAMES  M.  LUDLOW,  D.D.,L.H.D. 


Z^t  C^ricttan  feiterature  €o. 


MDCCCXCVI 


Copyright,  1896,  by 
The  Christian  Literature  Co. 


Printed  by 
J.  J.  Little  &  Co.,  New  York,  u.  S.  A. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Bibliography  xi 

CHAP.  I.  — Introdlctory— Outline   of   Study, —  Problem 

of  the  Crusades. — Outline  of  Preliminary  Study I 

CHAP,  n.— State  of  Society— Ignorance— Dulness  of 
Life— Superstition— Low  Sense  of  Justice— Cruelty 
— Taste  for  War.  —  Sporadic  Culture — Great  Men. — 
Budding  Art. — Ignorance  — Few  Industries  — Degradation. 
— Narrow  Limitation  of  Life. — Superstition.  —  Laws  —  Pri- 
vate Combat — The  Ordeal. — Hardness  of  Manners — Brutal- 
ity.— Cruelties. — Love  of  War. — Cruelty  of  Greeks 6 

CHAP.  III.— Chiyalry— Rules— Education  of  Knight- 
Ceremonies— Influence  ON  Character.  — Rules  of 
Chivalry.  —  Rites.  —  Defects 26 

CHAP.  IV.— The  Feudal  System— General  Principles- 
Influence  ON  People. —  Minute  Subdivision  of  Europe.— 
Baronial  Independence.  —  Bondage  of  the  Masses — Com- 
munes.—  Feudalism  and  the  Crusades 32 

CHAP,  v.— The   Impoverished   Condition  of   Europe.— 

Pauperism  at  Home — Plenty  Abroad 40 

CHAP.  VI.— The  Papal  Policy— Demoralization  of  the 
World  and  the  Church— Hildebrand's  Purpose  In- 
herited by  his  Successors.  — Corruption  of  the  Papacy.— 
Hildebrand's  Plan  of  Reform. — Previous  Prestige  of  the 
Papacy 43 

CHAP.  VII.— The  Mohammedan  Menace— The  Rise  of 
IsLA.M— Saracens— Turks.— The  Doctrine  of  Islam.— 
Koran  and  Caliphate. —  Rapid  Conquest  by  the  Saracens.— 


vi  Contents. 


PAGE 


Saracens  among  Christians. — The  Turks. — Conquest  by  the 

Turks 51 

CHAP.  VIII.— Pilgrimages— Origin  and  Growth  of  the 
Custom— Extent.  — Rise  of  the  Custom  of  Pilgrimage.— 
Pilgrim  Superstitions. — Incentives  to  Pilgrimage 64 


THE   STORY   OF  THE   CRUSADES. 

CHAP.  IX, —The  Story  of  the  Crusades.— The  Summons 
—Peter  the  Hermit— Pope  Urban— Popular  Excite- 
ment.—  Peter  the  Hermit.  —  Universal  Enthusiasm. — Eu- 
rojie  Swarms  Eastward 71 


THE   FIRST  CRUSADE. 

CHAP.  X. — The  First  Crusade.— The  Crusade  of  the 
Crowd.— Walter  the  Penniless— Peter— Gottschalk.—Volk- 
man — Emico — General  Disaster 78 

CHAP.  XL— The  Crusade  under  the  Chieftains,  God- 
frey, Raymond,  Bohemond,  Tancred,  Hugh,  Robert 
OF  Normandy. — Godfrey —  Raymond — Bohemond. — Tan- 
cred—  Hugh — Robert  of  Normandy. — Various  Routes  of 
the  Chieftains. — Character  of  Alexius  —  Fear  of  Latins 82 

CHAP.  XIL— The  Fall  of  Nic^a.— Contrast  of  Christian 
and  Moslem  Soldier.  —  Capture  of  Nicaea — Treachery  of 
Alexius 91 

CHAP.  XIIL— Battle  of  Doryl^^um- Tarsus— Defection 
of  Baldwin.  — Victory  of  Doryleeum. — Capture  of  Tarsus- 
Baldwin  Seizes  Edessa 96 

CHAP.  XIV. —Before  Antioch.— The  Crusaders  before  An- 
tioch. — Discouragement  of  the  Christians. — Exploits — Bat- 
tles of  Children    loi 

CHAP.  XV.— The  Fall  of  Antioch.— Treachery  of  Phirous. 

— Capture  of  Antioch 108 

CHAP.  XVI.— The  Holy  Lance.— Kerbogha  Invests  Antioch. 
—The  Holy  Lance.— Kerbogha  Routed.— The  Holy  Lance 
Discredited 112 

CHAP.    XVII.— On    to  Jerusalem.— The   Crusaders   Enter 

Palestine. — On  to  Jerusalem 120 

CHAP.  XVIII. —  The  Capture  of  Jerusalem.— Suffering  be- 


Contents.  vil 


PACE 

fore  Jerusalem. — Procession  around  the  City.  —  Final  As- 
sault—Christian Cruelty. — Jerusalem  Despoiled 125 

CHAP.  XIX.— GoDKREY,  First  Baron  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre—Conquest OF  the  Land— The  Kingdom  of  Jeru- 
salem.—Godfrey's  Rule. — Victory  at  Ascalon.  —  Return  of 
Crusaders. —Godfrey's  Prowess.— Death  of  Godfrey 134 

CHAP.  XX.— Baldwin  I.,  King  of  Jerusalem.— Baldwin  I., 

King  of  Jerusalem.  —  Ruse  of  Bohemond.  —  Death  of  Tancred   144 

CHAP.  XXI.  — King  Baldwin  II.— King  Foulque— King 
Baldwin  III.  — Exploits  of  Zenghi— Rise  of  Nour- 
REDiN.  — Reign  of  Baldwin  II.— King  Foulque— King  Bald- 
win III.  —  Fall  of  Edessa 150 

CHAP.  XXI L  — Military  Orders— Hospitallers— Tem- 
plars—Teutonic  Knights.— The  Hospitallers.— Tem- 
plars— Teutonic   Knights 156 

CHAP.  XXIIL  — Europe  between  the  First  and  Second 
Crusades— Kingship  in  France— Papal  Aggrandize- 
ment—ABi;LARD— Arnold  of  Brescia  — Bernard.— 
Kingship  in  France. —Ab61ard— Arnold  of  Brescia. — Ber- 
nard's Influence 160 


THE   SECOND   CRUSADE, 

CHAP.  XXIV.— The  Second  Crusade.  — Bernard— Con- 
rad III.  — Louis  VII.  — Suger— Siege  of  Damascus.— 
Bernard  Preaches  Crusade. —  Start  of  French  and  Germans. 

—  Disastrous  Beginning. — The  Kings  Reach  Palestine. — 
Divisions  among  Crusaders. — Abbe  Suger 166 

CHAP.  XXV.— NouRREDiN  — Rise  of  Sai.adin— King  Guy- 
Queen  Sibylla.— Nourredin  — Baldwin— Amaury.  —  Riseof 
Saladin. — Baldwin  IV. — Sibylla  and  King  Guy 17S 

CHAP.  XXVI.  — Battle  of  Tiberias— Fall  of  Jerusalem. 
— The  Field  of  Tiberias. — Crusaders'  Overthrow  at  Tiberias. 

—  Fall  of  Jerusalem.  —  Magnanimity  of  Saladin 186 

CHAP,  XXVII.— Europe  between  the  Second  and  Third 

Crusades— Superstition— The  Waldenses— Degrada- 
tion of  the  Papacy— France  under  Louis— England 
under  Henry  II.  — Richard  Cceur  de  Lion.— Super- 
stition— Waldenses.  —  France — England.  — Richard  Cceur  de 
Lion.— Coronation  of  Richard  I.  — Richard's  Cruelty 195 


viii  Contents. 


THE  THIRD   CRUSADE. 

PAGE 

CHAP.  XXVIIL— The  Third  Crusade.— William  of  Tyre 
— Barbarossa. — Call  to  Crusade. — Frederick  Barbarossa. 
— Bombast  of  Champions. — Death  of  Frederick  Barba- 
rossa     206 

CHAP.  XXIX.— Siege  of  Acre.— The  Siege  of  Acre 215 

CHAP.  XXX.— The  Coming  of  Philip  Augustus  and  Rich- 
ard—Fall OF  Acre.  — Sea  Voyage  of  the  English.— Rich- 
ard Arrives  in  Palestine. — Crusaders  Take  x\cre. — Finesse 
of  Richard  and  Saladin. — Assassins  —  Richard  Retreats, — 
Peace  with  Saladin. — Captivity  of  Richard. — Death  of  Sala- 
din     219 

CHAP.  XXXI.  — Palestine  after  the  Third  Crusade- 
Henry  VI.— Siege  of  Thoron.— Various  Minor  Cru- 
sades. —  Siege  of  Thoron.  — Discouragement  of  Christendom .   236 


THE   FOURTH  CRUSADE. 

CHAP.  XXXII.— The  Fourth  Crusade.— History  and 
Condition  of  Constantinople. — Weakness  of  Greek 
Emperors. — Foreign  Aggressions. — Antipathy  of  Europe- 
ans.—  Riches  of  Constantinople.  —  Suburban  Wealth 242 

CHAP.  XXXIII.— The  Summons  to  the  Fourth  Crusade 
—Contract  with  Venice— Egypt  the  Destination- 
Philip  of  Swabia.  —  Fulque — Venetian  Ships  Hired. — 
Crusaders  to  Attack  Egypt. — Inducement  to  Divert  Cru- 
sade      253 

CHAP.  XXXIV.— The  Plot  for  the  Diversion  of  the 
Crusade— Capture  of  Zara.— Dandolo's  Treachery.— 
Fleet  Sails  against  Zara.— Revolt  of  Crusaders.— Young 
Alexius's  Promises 260 

CHAP.  XXXV.— On  to  Constantinople— Capture  of  Ga- 
lata.— Voyage  to  Constantinople.  — Protest  of  the  Greek 
Emperor.— Capture  of  the  Golden  Horn 268 

CHAP.  XXXVL— Constantinople  Secured  to  Isaac  and 
Young  Alexius— Usurpation  of  Mourtzouphlos.— 
Assault  upon  the  City.  — Flight  of  Alexius  — Isaac  Restored. 
—Young  Alexius  Coemperor.— Great  Fire— Mourtzouphlos. 
—Latins  Attempt  the  Sovereignty 274 


Contents.  ix 


PACE 

CHAP.  XXXVII.— Capture  of  Constantinopli:,  — Fall  of 
Constantinople. —  Plunder  of  the  City— Nicetas.— Relics 
Stolen 284 

CHAP.  XXXVIII.  — Founding  the  Latin  Ki.ngdom  of  Con- 
stantinople.—Baldwin  Elected  Emperor.  — Fatal  Influ- 
ence of  the  Fourth  Crusade 291 

CHAP.  XXXIX.— Between  the  Fourth  and  Fifth  Cru- 
sades—Condition OF  East  and  West— The  Chil- 
dren's Ckusade.— Eastern  Disasters— John  of  Brienne.— 
The  Children's  Crusade 296 


THE   FIFTH   CRUSADE. 

CHAP.  XL.— The  Fifth  Crusade.  — Disaster  of  Marietta. 
—Start  of  the  Crusaders.— Assault  of  Mount  Tabor— Dami- 
etta.  —The  Affair  of  Damietta.  —Pelagius  — Francis  of  Assisi. 
— Disaster  at  Damietta 301 


THE    SIXTH    CRUSADE. 

CHAP.  XLL— The  Sixth  Crusade.— Frederick  II.  and 
Pope  Gregory  IX.  — Pope  Gregory  IX.  — Papal  Anathema 
of  Frederick.  — Frederick  Acquires  Jerusalem.  — Return  of 
Frederick.- Popular  Discontent  with  the  Pope 313 

CHAP.  XLIL  — Between  the  Si.vm  and  Seventh  Cru- 
sades—The Tartars— The  Carismian  Invasion.— Tar- 
tars— Carismians. — Carismians  at  Jerusalem  and  Gaza 324 


THE   SEVENTH    CRUSADE. 

CHAP,  XLIIL— The  Seventh  Crusade.— St.  Louis.— In- 
nocent IV.  and  Frederick.  — St.  Louis— Personal  Qualities. 

—  Piety  of  Louis— Takes  the  Cross.— Louis's  Zeal  for  Cru- 
sade.—Delay  at  Cyprus.— Victory  at  Damietta.— Vice  and 
Strife  among  the  Victors.  —Sultana  Chegger-Eddour.  — Fool- 
hardiness  of  D'Artois.- Disaster  at  Mansourah.  — Horrors 
of  the  Christian  Retreat.  — Heroism  of  Marguerite  and  Louis. 

—  Massacre  of  the  Sultan.  —Escape  of  Louis  to  Acre.  —Louis 
Lingers  in  Palestine. —  Louis  Returns  to  France 328 


Contents. 


THE  EIGHTH   CRUSADE. 

PAGE 

CHAP.  XLIV.— The  Eighth  Crusade.— Death  of  St. 
Louis— Fall  of  Acre.— Bibars  Sultan— Louis  Reenlists. 
—Death  of  St.  Louis.  — The  Fall  of  Acre 361 


RESULTS   OF  THE   CRUSADES. 

CHAP.  XLV.  — Results  of  the  Crusades.— Kingship- 
Unity  OF  Europe— The  Papacy— Liberal  Thought- 
Increased  Knowledge  —  Arts  —  Literature  —  Com- 
merce—TheTurkish  Power.— Growth  of  European  King- 
doms.—Unity  of  Europe.— Prestige  of  the  Papacy.— Lost 
Prestige  of  the  Papacy.— Popular  Liberty— Arts— Educa- 
tion.—Commerce— Wealth— Rise  of  Ottomans 368 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


\.    PRINTED    COLLECTIONS    OK    THE    SOURCES    OF    THE    HISTORY    OK 
THE   CRUSADES. 

The  sources  of  the  history  of  the  crusades  will  be  found  collected  in 
the  following  works,  to  which  reference  is  made  in  the  entries  which 
follow : 

Jacobus  Bongarsius:  Gesta  Dei  per  Francos,  sive  orientalium  ex- 

peditionum,  et  regni  P>ancorum  Hierosolimitani  historia  (ab  a. 

1095  ad  I420)avariis,  sed  illius  cevi  scriptoribus,  litteris  commen- 

data;   Hanovia;  [Ilanau],  1611,  fol. 
Martin   Bouquet:   Rerum  Gallicarum  et   Francicarum  scriptores. 

Recucil  des  historiens  des  Gaules  et  de  la  France;  Paris,  1738- 

1876,  23  vols. 
FRAxgois  Pierre  Guillaume   Guizot:    Collection  des  m^moires 

relatifs  al'histoire  de  France  depuis  la  fondation  de  la  monarchic 

fran9aise  jusqu'au  13.  si^cle ;    Paris,  1823-^5,  31  vols.,  8vo. 
Jacques  Paul  Migne:   I.,  Patrologice  Latinre,  torn,  i.-ccxxi. 
Jacques  Paul  Migne:   II.,  Patrologia;  Groeca;,  torn,  i.-clxi. 
Jacques  Paul  Migne:  III.,  Patrologiae  Graecae  Latine  tantum  editse, 

torn,  i.-lxxxi. 
Recucil  des  historiens  des  croisades,  public  par  les  soins  de  I'Aca- 

d^mie  des  inscriptions  et  belles-lettres;    Paris,   Imprimerie  na- 

tionale,  1S41  sqq.  ;  vol.  xv.,  1895. 
Paul  E.  D.  Riant:   Expeditions  et  pelerinages  des  Scandinaves  en 

Terre-Sainte  au  temps  des  croisades;   Paris,  Imprimerie  Lain^ 

et  Havard,  1865-69,  2  vols.  (vol.  ii.  being  tables). 
Paul  E.  D.  Riant:    Inventaire  critique  des  lettres  historiques  des 

croisades,  .  .  .  786-1100;   Paris,  1880   (in   Archives   de  I'Orient 

latin,  vol.  i.  ;   Paris,  1881). 


n.   the  principal  sources  ok  the  history  ok  the  crusades. 

A.   Chronicles  of  Eye-ivitnesses. 

Albertok  Aix  (Albertus  Aquensis)  :  Historia  Hierosolymitana.    a.d. 
1095-U21    (in   Recueil.  Hist,   occid.,   iv.,   pj).  265-713;    and  in 


xii  Bibliography. 


Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  clxvi.,  col.  389-716.  French  translation  in 
Guizot,  Collection,  xx.,  xxi. ). 

Baldric,  Archbishop  of  Dol  (Baldricus  Andegavensis,  later  archi- 
episcopus  Dolensis) :  Historic  Hierosolymitante  libri  iv.  A.D. 
1095-99  (in  Recueil.  Hist,  occid.,  iv.,  pp.  i-iii ;  and  in  Migne, 
Pat.  Lat.,  clxvi.,  col.  1057-1152). 

Anna  Comnena:  Alexiadis  libri  xv.  a.d.  1069-1118  (in  Recueilt 
Histor.  grecs,  i.,  2,  pp.  65-179;  and  in  Migne  [Greek  tex. 
and  Latin  translation],  Pat.  Grccc.  cxxxi.,  col.  79-1212.  Latin 
translation  also  in  Migne,  Pat.  Grjec.  Lat.,  Ixviii.,  col.  903- 
1516). 

Ekkehard  of  Urach  (Ekkehardus  Uraugiensis) :  Hierosolymita. 
A.D.  1095-1187  (in  Recueil.  Plist.  occid.,  v.,  pp.  1-40;  and  in 
Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  cliv.,  col.  1059-62). 

FouLCHER  OF  Chartres  (Fulcherius  Carnotensis) :  Gesta  Franco- 
rum  Jherusalem  peregrinantium.  A.D.  1095-1 127  (in  Recueil. 
Hist,  occid.,  iii.,  pp.  311-485;  and  in  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  civ., 
col.  825-940.  French  translation  in  Guizot,  Collection,  xxiv., 
pp.  1-275). 

Gilo  :  Historia  gestorum  vias  nostri  temporis  Hierosolymitance  libri 
iv.     A.D.  1095-99  (in  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  civ.,  col.  943-994). 

Guibert  of  Nogent  (Guibertus,  abbas  monast.  s.  Maria;  Novigenti) : 
Historia  Hierosolymitana  quae  dicitur  Gesta  Dei  per  Francos, 
libri  viii.  A.D.  1095-11 10  (in  Recueil.  Hist,  occid.,  iv.,  pp. 
115-263;  also  in  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  clvi.,  cok  679-838.  French 
translation  in  Guizot,  Collection,  ix.,  pp.  1-338). 

Prince  de  Joiwille:  Histoire  de  Saint  Louys,  IX.  du  nom,  roy 
de  France  (in  Bouquet,  xx.,  pp.  191-304.  Numerous  other  edi- 
tions, e.g.,  Wailly,  with  translation  in  modern  French;  Paris, 
Didot,  1874.  English  translation  in  Bohn's  Antiquarian  Library, 
Chronicles  of  the  Crusades). 

Raymond  of  Agiles  (Raimundus  de  Agiles) :  Historia  Francorura 
qui  ceperunt  Hierusalem  a.  1095  ad  1099  (in  Recueil.  Hist. 
occid.,  iii.,  pp.  235-309;  and  in  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  civ.,  col.  591— 
668.    French  translation  in  Guizot,  Collection,  xxi.,  pp.  227-397). 

Tudebod  (Tudebodus)  :  Historia  de  Hierosolymitano  itinere  ab  a. 
1095  ad  1099,  libri  V.  (in  Recueil.  Hist,  occid.,  iii.,  pp.  I-117;  and 
in  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  clv.,  col.  763-823.  French  translation,  M^- 
moires  de  I'historien  Pierre  Tudebode  sur  son  p^erinage  a  Jeru- 
salem;   Paris,  Champion,  1878). 

ViLLEHARDOUiN  :  Histoire  de  I'empire  de  Constantinople  sous  les 
empereurs  frangois  (in  Bouquet,  xviii.,  pp.  432-514.  With  mod- 
ern French  translation,  Paris,  Lemerre,  1891,  2  vols.  English 
translation,  London,  1829). 

William  of  Tyre  (Guilelmus  Tyrius) :  Historia  rerum  in  partibus 
transmarinis  gestarum.  a.d.  1095-1184  (in  Recueil.  Hist,  occid., 
i.  ;  and  in  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  cci.,  col.  209-892.  English  trans- 
lation by  Mary  Noyes  Colvin ;  London,  Early  English  Text  So- 
ciety, 1893). 


Bibliography.  xiii 


B.  Litters  of  the  Cnisadcrs. 

Anselm  of  Ripemont  (Ansclmus  de  Ribodimonte) :  Epistolcc  ad  Ma- 

nassem  archiepiscopum  Remensem  dujc.     A.D.  1098  (in  Recucil. 

Hist,  occid.,  iii.,  pp.  890-893). 
Alexius  I.,  Cu.mne.nus  :  Epistola  ad  Robertum  I.,  Flandrice  comitem. 

A.D.  1098  (in  Recueil.  Ilistor.  grecs,  iv.,  p.  132;  and  in  Migne, 

Pat.  GrKC,  cxxxi.,  col.   564-568;  Pat.  Lat.,  civ.,  col.  465-470. 

German  translation  by  II.  Floto,  Kaiser  Ileinrich  IV.,  vol.  ii,, 

p.  354;  Stuttgart,  1854). 
Godfrey  (Godefridus  Bullonius) :   Epistolac  et  diplomata  (in  Migne, 

Pat.  Lat.,  civ.,  col.  389-398). 
Stephen  of  Bi.ois  (Stephanus  Carnotensis  et  Blesensis)  to  his  wife: 

Epistola;  dure  (in  Recucil.  Ilist.  occid.,  iii.,  pp.  8S3-893). 
Urban  II. :  Epistola  (in  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  cli.,  col.  283-552). 


C.    Contemporary  and  Very  Early  Writers. 

Matthew  Paris  :  English  History  from  1253  to  1273  (translation 
in  Bohn's  Antiquarian  Library ;  London,  Bell ;  New  York,  Mac- 
millan). 

Roger  of  Hovenden:  Chronica;  edited  by  William  Stubbs  (in  Re- 
rum  Britannicarum  medii  sevi  Scriptores  [see  under  Stubbs, 
p.  viii.].  No.  51,  vols,  i.-iv.,  1868-71). 

Roger  of  Wendover:  Flowers  of  History  (in  Bohn's  Antiquarian 
Library;   London,  Bell;  New  York,   Alacmillan). 

WiLLiBALD,  The  Travels  of,  a.d.  721-727  (in  Bohn's  Antiquarian 
Library  [London,  Bell;  New  York,  Macmillan],  in  the  vol. 
edited  by  Thomas  Wright,  Early  Travels  in  Palestine,  pp.  13-22). 


III.  works  on  the  crusades  written  from  the  sources. 

T.  A.  Archer  and  Charles  L.   Kingsford:  The  Crusades:  The 

Story  of  the  Latin  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem ;  New  York,   G.   P. 

Putnam's  Sons,  1895. 
George  William  Cox  :  The  Crusades ;  London,  Longmans ;  New 

York,  Scribner,  1874. 
Heinrich  H,a.genmeyer:  Peter  der  Eremite:  ein  kritischer  Bcitrag 

zur  Geschichte  des  ersten  Kreuzzuges ;   Leipzig,  Harrassowitz, 

1879.  . 

Arnold  Hermann  Ludwig  Heeren:  Historische  Werke;  Gottm- 

gen,  Vandenhoeck  und  Ruprecht,  1821-26,  14  parts. 
Arnold   Hermann   Lidwig  Heeren  :    Essai  sur  I'influence  des 

croisades ;  French  translation,  Paris,  1808. 


X  i  V  Bibliography. 


Thomas  Keightley:  The  Crusaders ;  London,  S.  P.  C.  K.,  1834,  2 
vols.  ;  new  ed.,  Parker,  1852,  i  vol. 

Bernard  Kugler:  Geschichte  der  Kreuzziige;  Berlin,  G.  Grote, 
1880;  2.  Aufl.,  1891. 

Bernard  Kugler  :  Neue  Analekten  zur  Geschichte  des  2.  Kreuz- 
zuges ;  Tubingen,  Fries,  1883. 

Jean  Pierre  Armand  de  la  Porte  des  Vaulx:  Les  croisades, 
et  le  royaume  latin  de  Jerusalem ;  Limoges,  Ardant,  1863. 

Louis  Maimbourg:  Histoire  des  croisades;  Paris,  1675,  2  vols.; 
2d  ed.,  1682,  4  vols.  English  translation.  The  History  of  the 
Holy  War;  London,  1686,  fol. 

Joseph  Francois  Michaud:  Histoire  des  croisades;  Paris,  1812- 
22,  7  vols.  ;  9th  ed.,  Paris,  Vives,  1856,  4  vols.  ;  illustrated  by 
Dor^,  1875-76,  2  vols.,  fol. 

Joseph  Francois  Michaud  :  History  of  the  Crusades ;  translation, 
I>ondon,  Routledge,  1852.  New  ed.,  with  supplementary  chap- 
ter by  Hamilton  W.  Mabie;  New  York,  Armstrong,  1881,  3  vols. 

Joseph  Francois  Michaud  :  Bibliotheque  des  croisades ;  Paris, 
1830,  4  vols. 

Jules  Michelet:  Les  croisades,  1095-1270;  Paris,  Hetzel  et  Cie., 
1880. 

Charles  Mills  :  The  History  of  the  Crusades  ;  London,  Longmans, 
1828,  2  vols. 

Edwin  Pears  :  The  Fall  of  Constantinople ;  being  the  Story  of  the 
Fourth  Crusade ;  London,  Longmans  &  Co.  ;  New  York,  Harpers, 
1886. 

Reinhold  Rohricht:  Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  der  Kreuzziige;  Ber- 
lin, Weidmann,  1874-78,  2  vols. 

Reinhold  Rohricht:  Quellenbeitrage  zur  Geschichte  der  Kreuz- 
ziige. Bd.  i.,  Zur  Geschichte  Salah-ad-dins ;  Berlin,  Weidmann, 
1879. 

Reinhold  Rohricht:  Studien  zur  Geschichte  des  fiinften  Kreuz- 
zuges  ;  Innsbruck,  Wagner,  1891. 

Richard  Salter  Storrs  :  Bernard  of  Clairvaux ;  New  York,  Scrib- 
ner,  1892. 

William  Stubbs  :  Chronicles  and  Memorials  of  the  Reign  of  Richard 
I.  (in  Rerum  Britannicarum  medii  a;vi  Scriptores  [No.  38, 
vol.  i.,  1864],  published  by  the  authority  of  her  Majesty's  Trea- 
sury, under  the  direction  of  the  Master  of  the  Rolls  [hence  called 
the  "  Rolls  Series  "]  ;  London,  1858  sqq. ). 

Heinrich  Carl  Ludolf  von  Sybel  :  Geschichte  des  ersten  Kreuz- 
zuges ;  Leipzig,  Fleischer,  1841 ;  2.  Aufl.,  1881. 

Heinrich  Carl  Ludolf  von  Sybel:  History  and  Literature  of  the 
Crusades ;  translated  by  Lady  Dufif-Gordon  [not  a  translation  of 
the  preceding,  but  a  compilation  from  his  writings]  ;  London, 
Chapman,  1861. 

Friedrich  Wilken  :  Geschichte  der  Kreuzziige  nach  morgenland- 
ischen  und  abendlandischen  Berichten ;  Leipzig,  Vogel,  1807-32, 
7  parts. 


Bibliography.  xv 


IV.    GENERAL  HISTORIES   IN  WHICH   THE  PERIOD  OF  THE  CRUSADES 
IS   INCLUDED. 

James  Bryce:  The  Holy  Roman  Empire;   London  and  New  York, 

Macmillan,  1864;  8th  ed.,  1888. 

George  Fim.ay:  A  History  of  Greece  from  its  Conquest  by  the  Ro- 
mans to  the  Present  Time,  B.C.  146  to  a. D.  1864;  Oxford, 
Clarendon  Tress,   1877,   7  vols. 

Edward  Gihbon  :  The  History  of  the  Decline  and  Eall  of  the  Roman 
Empire;  London,  1776-81,  6  vols.  Best  completed  cd.  by 
William  Smith;  London,  Murray,  1854-55,  8  vols.  ;  New  York, 
Harpers.  New  ed. ,  with  additional  notes  by  J.  B.  Bury;  Lon- 
don and  New  York,  Macmillan,  1896  sqq.  (Chaps.  Ivii.-lxi., 
The  Crusades,  separately  issued  by  A.  Murray;   London,  1869.) 

Francois  Pierre  Guii,i,au.me  Guizot:  The  History  of  Civilization 
from  the  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  to  the  French  Revolution ; 
translation  (in  Bohn's  Standard  Library;  London,  Bell;  New 
York,  Macmillan;  3  vols.). 

Francois  Pierre  Guillaume  Guizot:  The  History  of  France  from 
the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Year  1789;  translation,  London,  Low, 
1870-81,  6  vols. 

Henry  Hallam  :  View  of  the  State  of  flurope  during  the  Middle 
Ages;  London,  Murray,  1818,  2  vols.;  nth  ed.,  1855,  3  vols.; 
later  eds. ;  reprinted.  New  York,  Armstrong,  2  vols. 

David  Hume:  The  History  of  England;  modern  ed.,  London,  Ward, 
Lock  &  Co.,  1880,  3  vols.  ;  Amer.  ed.,  Harpers,  6  vols. 

Henry  Hart  Milman:  History  of  Latin  Christianity;  London, 
Murray,  1854-55,  6  vols.;  4th  ed.,  1867,  9  vols.;  reprinted. 
New  York,  Armstrong,  8  vols. 

William  Robertson:  The  History  of  the  Reign  of  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.,  with  a  View  of  the  Progress  of  Society  in  Europe 
from  the  Subversion  of  the  Roman  Empire  to  the  Beginning  of 
the  Sixteenth  Century;  London,  1769;  reprinted,  Philadelphia, 
Lippincott,  1857,  3  vols.  ;  later  editions. 


V.    POETICAL  treatment  OF   THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  FIRST  CRUSADE. 

ToRQUATO  Tasso  :  Gerusalemme  Liberata;  Venice,  1580.     English 
translation,  Jerusalem  Delivered ;  New  York,  Appleton. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY — OUTLINE    OF    STUDY. 


FTER  the  lapse  of  eight  hundred  years 
the  story  of  the  crusades  still  furnishes  the 
most  fascinating,  if  not  the  most  instruc- 
tive, pages  of  Christian  history.  Romance 
has  entertained  the  generations  from  the 
days  of  the  Italian  Tasso  to  those  of  Walter  Scott  with 
the  rude  yet  chivalric  characters  of  those  mediaeval 
times.  Ponderous  knights  and  dashing  emirs,  fair 
women  and  saintly  apparitions,  continue  to  move  over 
the  mimic  stage  of  the  imagination.  Poetry,  in  all 
the  tongues  of  modern  Europe,  draws  its  imagery  from 
scenes  that  were  enacted  while  these  languages  were 
being  formed  from  their  classic  or  barbaric  originals. 
The  hymnology  of  the  church  is  enriched  by  the  songs 
of  those  who  caught  their  rhythm  from  the  march  of 
the  crusading  host.  Bernard  of  Clugny  watched  the 
salvation  armies  of  the  olden  time  as  they  sauntered 
by  his  cloister  window.  Now  catching  their  spirit, 
and  anon  oppressed  with  their  failure  to  express  the 
truest  prowess  of  the  believer's  soul,  he  tried  to  lift 
men's  faith  to  the  Jerusalem  above : 

"  O  happy  band  of  pilgrims, 
If  onward  ye  will  tread 
I 


2  Introductory. 

With  Jesus  as  your  fellow 
To  Jesus  as  your  head! 

"  Thou  hast  no  shore,  fair  ocean; 
Thou  hast  no  time,  bright  day; 
Dear  fountain  of  refreshment 
To  pilgrims  on  the  way. 

"  Upon  the  Rock  of  Ages 

They  raise  thy  holy  tower ; 
Thine  is  the  victor's  laurel, 
And  thine  the  golden  dower." 

Our  newest  songs  catch  the  very  gleam  of  those  battle 
days.     For  example : 

"  Onward,  Christian  soldiers, 
Marching  as  to  war, 
With  the  cross  of  Jesus 
Going  on  before!" 

is  not  unlike  the  chorus  of  a  Latin  hymn  of  Berthier  of 
O  rleans,  which  was  sung  under  the  tent  and  on  the  field  : 

"  Lignum  crucis 
Signum  ducis 
Sequitur  exercitus ; 
Quod  non  cessit 
Sed  prsecessit 
In  vi  Sancti  Spiritus." 

The  student  of  human  nature,  also,  will  find  here 
his  most  subtle  and  perplexing,  but  at  the  same  time 
his  most  suggestive,  subjects.  Never  before  or  since 
was  there  such  exalted  faith  combined  with  such 
grotesque  superstition,  such  splendid  self-sacrifice 
mingled  with  cruel  and  unrestrained  selfishness,  such 
holy  purpose  with  its  wings  entangled,  torn,  and  be- 
smeared in  vicious  environments. 


Problem  of  the  Crusades. 


To  the  historical  scholar  this  period  is  unsurpassed 
in  importance  by  any,  if  we  except  the  days  of  the 
birth  of  Christianity.  The  age  of  the  crusades  covers 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries.  For  two  hundred 
years,  to  use  the  vigorous  language  of  the  Greek 
princess  Anna  Comnena,  who  witnessed  the  first 
crusade,  "  Europe  was  loosened  from  its  foundations 
and  hurled  against  Asia."  Asan  Alpine  glacier  presses 
down  into  the  valley,  only  to  melt  away  at  the  summer 
line,  yet  with  renewed  snows  repeats  the  fatal  experi- 
ment from  year  to  year,  so  seven  times  Western  Chris- 
tendom replenished  its  mighty  armaments,  to  see  them 
destroyed  at  the  border-land  of  Oriental  conquest. 

To  define  the  causes  of  these  vast  movements  is  a 
task  which  both  tempts  and  tantalizes  the  historian. 
It  is  surely  unlearned  to  ascribe  e\en  the  first  crusade 
to  the  sole  influence  of  any  man,  though  he  were  an 
Urban  II.  and  wielded  the  temporal  and  spiritual  au- 
thority of  the  Papacy  in  its  most  puissant  days.  It 
is  puerile  to  say,  as  Michaud  does,  speaking  of  Peter 
the  Hermit,  "  The  glory  of  delivering  Jerusalem  be- 
longs to  a  single  pilgrim,  possessed  of  no  other  power 
than  the  influence  of  his  character  and  genius."  It 
IS  equally  uncritical,  if  not  blasphemous,  to  attribute 
these  most  unfortunate  and  ill-timed  ventures  to  the 
Almighty,  as  the  same  writer  does  in  these  words: 
"  No  power  on  earth  could  have  produced  such  a 
great  revolution.  It  only  belonged  to  Him  whose 
will  gives  birth  to  and  disperses  tempests  to  throw 
all  at  once  into  human  hearts  that  enthusiasm  which 
silenced  all  other  passions  and  drew  on  the  multitude 
as  if  by  an  invisible  power." 


4  Introductoiy. 

To  even  approximate  an  understanding  of  this  sub- 
ject, one  must  first  become  familiar  with  the  great 
racial  movements  which  culminated  in  that  age ;  must 
be  able  to  estimate  the  tendencies  of  society  at  a  time 
when  it  knew  not  the  forces  which  were  struggling 
within  itself ;  n;iust  penetrate  the  policies  of  statesmen 
and  ecclesiastics  who  veiled  their  ambition  under  the 
self-delusion  that  they  were  serving  God  or  their 
fellow-men ;  and,  besides  all  this,  he  must  gauge  the 
passions  and  habits  of  common  people,  their  ignorance 
and  superstition,  if  not  the  true  heavenly  ardor  which 
led  them  to  offer  themselves  as  fuel  for  the  most 
stupendous  human  sacrifice  the  world  has  known. 
Were  one  thus  equipped  with  information,  one's  phil- 
osophical judgment  might  still  be  baffled  with  the 
inquiry,  What  was  the  chief  cause  of  the  crusades? 
An  observation  of  Dean  Milman  is  especially  appli- 
cable to  this  subject :  "  When  all  the  motives  which 
stir  the  human  mind  and  heart,  the  most  impulsive 
passion  and  the  profoundest  policy,  conspire  together, 
it  is  impossible  to  discover  which  is  the  dominant  in- 
fluence in  guiding  to  a  certain  course  of  action."  The 
mighty  tide  of  events  we  are  to  consider  was  not  un- 
like a  vast  river  which  sweeps  through  many  lands 
and  has  many  tributary  streams,  some  of  whose 
sources  are  hidden  in  the  depth  of  the  unexplored 
wilderness. 

Our  preliminary  study  will  therefore  be  wisely 
limited  to  an  inquiry  into  the  conditions  of  life  and 
thought  in  the  eleventh  century  which  facilitated  or 
prompted  the  great  movement. 


Outline  of  Preliminary  Study. 


These  Conditions  were  Prominently  : 

1 .  The  intellectual  and  moral  state  of  society 
in  the  eleventh  century,  especially  its 
rudeness  and  warlike  spirit. 

2.  The  institution  of  chivalry,  the  awakening 
of  better  ideals  of  heroism. 

3.  The  feudal  system,  which  provided  for 
the  easy  mobilization  of  men  in  war  or 
adventure. 

4.  The  impoverished  condition  of  Europe, 
which  forced  enterprise  to  seek  its  reward 
in  foreign  countries. 

5.  The  papal  policy  to  consolidate  and  uni- 
versalize the  ecclesiastical  empire. 

t>.  The  menace  of  Mohammedanism  under    \ 
the  Saracenic  and  Turkish  powers. 

7.  The  prevailing  superstition,  which  cred- 
ited to  pilgrimage  the  virtues  of  piety,  and 
substituted  exploits  in  the  Holy  Land  for 
the  plainer  duties  of  holy  life. 


CHAPTER  II. 

STATE  OF  SOCIETY  —  IGNORANCE  —  DULNESS  OF 
LIFE — SUPERSTITION — LOW  SENSE  OF  JUSTICE 
— CRUELTY — TASTE    FOR    WAR. 

ARDINAL  BARONIUS,  the  historian 
of  the  church  down  to  the  year  1198, 
designated  the  period  which  then  closed 
as  the  Dark  Ages.  The  propriety  of  the 
title  has  insured  its  perpetuity.  The  era 
of  the  crusades  is  almost  evenly  divided  by  the  date 
which  all  scholars,  following  Baronius,  regard  as  mark- 
ing the  end  of  the  worst  and  the  beginning  of  better 
times.  The  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  were  the 
battle-ground  on  which  the  grim  spectres  of  the  old 
met  the  bright  advancing  spirits  of  the  new  civilization. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  the  peoples  then  dom- 
inant were  the  descendants  of  those  barbaric  hordes 
whose  irruption  from  northern  Europe  and  western 
Asia  had  swept  away  the  Roman  empire.  The  fierce 
spirit  of  the  Frank  in  Gaul,  of  the  Goth  in  Spain,  and 
of  the  Lombard  in  Italy  was  not  yet  tempered  by  the 
arts  and  philosophy  their  fathers  had  so  nearly  de- 
stroyed, and  whose  renaissance  had  not  yet  begun. 

6 


sporadic  Culture — Great  Men. 


It  was  but  a  few  generations  since  the  people  that 
had  inherited  the  Roman  civiHzation  had  been  largely 
exterminated.  So  complete  had  been  the  ravage  that 
in  the  eighth  century  much  of  the  land  in  Italy  still 
remained  forest  and  marsh,  a  condition  to  which  it 
had  reverted.  Parcels  of  ground  were  purchased  by 
strangers  as  creini,  the  title  secured  by  the  fact  of 
having  cleared  and  cultivated  any  given  spot.  The 
reader  can  readily  paint  his  own  picture  of  the  soci- 
ety which  settled  these  lands  by  recalling  such  facts 
as  that  from  900  to  930  Italy  was  under  the  Huns; 
in  911  Normandy  was  conquered  by  Rollo  the  Dane ; 
in  1029  the  Normans  possessed  themselves  of  the  south 
of  Italy. 

Culture,  however,  was  not  entirely  extinct.  The 
age  produced  many  fine  specimens  of  what  is  best  in 
manhood  and  womanhood,  although,  in  comparison 
with  the  general  condition,  these  were  like  sporadic 
bushes  on  the  breast  of  a  land-slide,  whose  roots  have 
maintained  their  hold  through  the  rushing  debris,  or 
which  have  sprung  up  afresh  in  the  new  soil. 

There  were  some  men  whose  genius  and  virtues 
would  have  adorned  any  age.  Among  these  was 
Gerbert,  Pope  Sylvester  II.  (died  1003).  whose  attain- 
ments in  science  led  to  the  legend  that  he  was  in  com- 
munication with  the  devil.  Lanfranc  (1005-89),  the 
monk  of  Bee  and  Caen,  whom  William  the  Conqueror 
appointed  to  the  see  of  Canterbury,  is  still  renowned 
for  his  great  logical  ability  and  biblical  scholarship. 
Anselm  (1033-1 109)  merited  the  praise  whicli  Dante 
bestowed  upon  him  as  among  the  worthiest  spirits  he 
saw  in  paradise.    Berenger  (998-1088),  though  dis- 


8  State  of  Society. 

credited  for  heresy,  possessed  a  prowess  and  indepen- 
dence of  mind  which  made  him  the  forerunner  of  the 
later  Reformers.  Hildebrand  (1020  (?)-85),  however 
we  may  reprobate  the  hardness  of  his  ambition  and 
the  tyrannical  nature  of  his  projects,  must  be  recog- 
nized as  among  the  greatest  of  mankind  for  astute- 
ness of  judgment  and  ability  to  execute  the  most 
gigantic  and  hazardous  plans.  Abelard  (1079-1142) 
was  a  lad  of  sixteen  at  the  time  of  the  first  crusade, 
but  had  begun  to  puzzle  his  teacher,  William  of  Cham- 
peaux,  in  his  dialectical  tilts,  deriding  the  obsolete 
method  of  inquiry,  and  declaring  that  it  was  more 
sport  to  debate  than  to  fight  in  a  tournament.  Ber- 
nard of  Clairvaux  (1091-1153),  whose  pen  was  to 
control  Christendom  for  a  generation,  and  whose 
sainthood  shines  through  all  ages,  was  in  the  nursery 
when  the  soldiers  of  the  cross  started  for  the  East. 
There  were  noble  women,  too.  Bernard  owed  much 
of  his  talent  and  virtue  to  his  mother,  Aletta,  whose 
memory  is  the  imperishable  ornament  of  womanhood. 
The  great  Countess  Matilda  spoke  many  languages, 
was  chosen  counsellor  of  Pope  Gregory  VII.,  and  won 
her  place  in  Dante's  catalogue  of  saints  as  the  celestial 
messenger  heralding  the  chariot  throne  of  the  glorified 
Beatrice.  The  praise  of  the  great  crusading  captain 
Godfrey  halos  his  mother,  Ida  of  Bouillon,  to  whom 
he  confessed  that,  next  to  the  grace  of  God,  he  owed 
whatever  goodness  made  him  beloved  of  men. 

The  intellectuality  of  this  period  exercised  itself  al- 
most entirely  with  theological  and  religious  subjects. 
Men  in  seclusion  elaborated  and  defended  existing 
church  doctrines,  and  gave  pious  flight  to  their  imagi- 


Buddi7ig  Art.  g 

nations.  But  of  literature  as  such  there  was  none ; 
even  the  Troubadours  had  not  begun  to  rhyme  the 
Provencal  tongue.  The  hot  breath  of  the  crusades 
themselves  forced  the  debris  of  the  Latin  to  send  out 
its  first  flowers  of  poesy. 

In  this  age  at  least  may  be  discerned  the  budding 
of  a  taste  and  sentiment  that  betokened  the  refinement 
of  after  times.  Gothic  architecture,  the  first  efflores- 
cence of  the  Northern  genius  after  it  had  been  planted 
in  the  soil  of  Southern  art,  now  appeared  in  such 
buildings  as  the  cathedrals  of  Pisa,  Modena,  Parma, 
Siena,  Strasburg,  Treves,  Worms,  Mayence,  Basel, 
Chartres,  Brussels,  and  the  foundation  of  St.  Mark's 
in  Venice.  The  dreaded  year  looo  having  safely 
passed  without  the  anticipated  destruction  of  the 
world,  faith  reinspired  art  to  build  temples  on  earth. 
New  monasteries  appeared,  palatial  in  structure,  to 
accommodate  the  people  who  sought  in  seclusion 
escape  from  the  hardness  or  the  dreariness  of  life  in 
the  world. 

It  must,  hbwever,  be  recognized  that  whatever  bril- 
liancy of  intelligence,  beauty  of  character,  or  enterprise 
appeared  betokened  a  coming  rather  than  illustrated 
a  passing  age,  like  the  wild  flowers  that  shoot  from  the 
cold  ground  in  the  early  spring.  To  picture  these 
brighter  things,  were  the  genial  task  pursued  to  any 
great  extent,  would  endanger  the  accuracy  of  the  im- 
pression made  upon  the  reader's  mind.  Ilallam  truly 
says  of  this  period  :  "  History  which  reflects  only  the 
more  prominent  features  of  society  cannot  exhibit  the 
virtues  that  were  scarcely  able  to  struggle  through 
the  general  depravation." 


lo  State  of  Society. 

This  was  an  age  of  gross  ignorance.  The  art  of 
making  paper  from  cotton  had  just  been  discovered, 
and,  while  it  contributed  somewhat  to  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge  by  giving  cheaper  manuscript  books  than 
those  on  vellum,  the  world  was  to  wait  four  centuries 
longer  for  the  printing-press  to  popularize  the  habit 
of  seeking  information.  The  few  manuscripts  which 
existed  were  the  property  of  monasteries  or  of  the 
nobility,  who  kept  them  as  articles  of  furniture  rather 
than  for  their  practical  use.  We  have  a  verbal  monu- 
ment to  the  ignorance  of  these  times  in  the  expression 
we  still  use  when  we  speak  of  "  signing,"  or  making 
a  mark  to  signify,  one's  name.  In  the  ninth  century 
Herbaud,  the  supreme  judge  of  the  empire,  could  not 
write  his  name,  and  as  late  as  the  fourteenth  century 
Du  Guesclin,  high  constable  of  France,  was  equally 
innocent  of  letters.  One  of  their  contemporaries 
gives  this  tribute  to  the  ecclesiastics  of  the  time : 
"  They  were  given  rather  to  the  gullet  than  to  the 
tongue  [gnla;  qiiam  glosstr).  They  preferred  to  be 
schooled  in  salmon  rather  than  in  Solomon  {salinone 
quain  Solomoiie).'''  Few  priests  could  translate  the 
breviary  they  recited  with  parrot  tongues.  Of  the 
history  of  the  grand  civilization  just  behind  them 
the  people  knew  nothing ;  even  the  laws  which  had 
so  long  preserved  the  state  and  society,  those  of  Jus- 
tinian, were  forgotten  except  in  some  cloisters,  where 
they  were  studied  as  classic  lore. 

The  practical  methods  of  modern  inquiry  into  the 
meaning  of  the  world,  the  incessant  discovery  of  new 
resources  in  nature  for  the  comfort  and  luxury  of  liv- 
ing, have  stimulated  and  enlarged  the  human  mind; 


Io?iorancc — Few  hidustrics — Degradation.  1 1 

and  in  the  new  interests  thus  created  men  have  found 
a  healthful  diversion  alike  from  the  engrossments  of 
animalism  and  the  morbid  fancies  of  superstition. 
But  in  the  time  we  are  studying  there  was  no  real 
scientific  thought  that  was  not  instantly  suppressed 
by  the  authorities  of  the  church  as  the  suggestion 
of  heretics  or  of  the  Saracens.  Roger  Bacon,  who 
flourished  so  late  as  the  close  of  the  crusades,  paid 
with  fourteen  years'  imprisonment  for  his  temerity  in 
proposing  the  more  rational  methods  of  viewing  the 
world,  which  his  great  namesake,  Francis  Bacon,  three 
hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  more  completely  for- 
mulated for  general  acceptance. 

The  industrial  arts  had  been  lost  or  had  come  to  be 
entirely  neglected  after  the  barbaric  conquest  which 
swept  away  the  Roman  civilization,  and  during  the 
centuries  since  there  had  been  scarcely  any  attempt 
to  revive  them.  The  very  faculty  of  invention  seems 
to  have  become  paralyzed  by  disuse.  It  was  not 
until  1 148  that  Roger  of  Sicily  established  a  silk  fac- 
tory at  Palermo,  which,  Hallam  says,  "  gave  the  earli- 
est impulse  to  the  industry  of  Italy." 

Such  times  were  necessarily  marked  by  the  narrow 
limitation  and  degradation  of  common  life. 

The  vast  majority  of  people  lived  in  the  country, 
in  complete  isolation  from  their  fellows,  seeking  sus- 
tenance in  most  primitive  ways  from  the  breast  of 
mother  nature  ;  or  they  were  huddled  together  in  rude 
hamlets  under  the  walls  of  the  castles,  whose  lords  en- 
slaved while  they  protected  them ;  for  such  was  the 
chaotic  condition  of  society  that  every  one  was  com- 
pelled to  seek  siifety  with  service  under  .some  posses- 


12  State  of  Society. 

sor  of  a  stronghold.  Cities  there  were,  crowded  with 
dense  masses  of  humanity,  the  breeding-places  of  all 
sorts  of  vice  and  social  disorder.  Towns  owe  their 
existence  to  some  community  of  interest,  such  as 
similar  industrial  pursuits  or  convenience  for  trade; 
these,  of  course,  had  scarcely  begun  to  spring  up. 

If  the  immediate  environment  of  the  common  man 
furnished  no  stimulus  to  enterprise,  neither  was  it  pro- 
vided by  anything  beyond  his  neighborhood.  With- 
out a  system  of  monetary  exchange,  trade  was  limited 
to  barter  or  to  the  purchasing  power  of  purse  and  belt. 
A  brief  journey  with  merchandise  was  executed  with 
hazard.  Every  petty  lord  exacted  toll  of  those  who 
passed  the  border  of  his  estate.  Many  of  the  occu- 
pants of  the  castles  lived  by  open  robbery,  and  kept 
men-at-arms,  as  they  kept  their  falcons,  to  pounce 
upon  their  prey.  Not  only  the  goods,  the  persons 
also  of  travellers  were  regarded  as  legitimate  booty, 
the  victims  being  held  for  ransom  and  often  sold  as 
slaves.  So  enterprising  were  these  robber  knights 
that  it  is  said  to  have  been  dangerous  for  the  king  to 
go  from  Paris  to  St. -Denis  without  an  army  at  his 
back.  The  armed  merchantman  rode  generally  with 
lance  in  rest.  In  towns,  says  Thierry,  "  nobles,  sword 
in  hand,  committed  robbery  on  the  burghers,  and 
in  turn  the  burghers  committed  violence  upon  the 
peasants  who  came  to  buy  or  sell  at  the  market  of 
the  town." 

There  was  considerable  foreign  commerce  on  the 
Mediterranean.  The  merchants  of  Pisa,  Genoa,  and 
Venice  were  in  rivalry  with  those  of  Byzantium,  and 
with  the  Saracens  who  held  the  ports  of  Spain  and 


Narrow  Lunitation  of  Life.  13 


North  Africa.  But,  as  what  are  known  as  maritime 
laws  were  not  agreed  upon  until  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, commerce  was  little  more  than  piracy.  The 
trade  vessels  were  burdened  with  men  for  their  de- 
fence, or  for  rifling-  the  cargoes  of  less  puissant 
marauders.  The  mariner's  compass  had  been  in- 
vented, but  was  not  in  common  use,  so  that  trade 
was  compelled  to  follow  the  coast-lines,  in  perpetual 
hazard  of  wreck  and  robbers.  There  was  no  impor- 
tation of  things  for  common  use  ;  the  labor  and  danger 
of  transportation  limited  the  articles  of  trade  to  those 
of  rarest  value,  which  became  the  spoil  of  the  power- 
ful or  the  purchase  of  the  rich.  The  ordinary  man 
received  no  benefit  from  other  neighborhoods  than  his 
own,  except  that  the  air  of  heaven  was  sweetened  by 
its  passage  over  the  mountains  and  seas  which  sepa- 
rated him  from  his  kind. 

It  is  difficult  for  us  to  realize  what  must  have  been 
the  inane  stupidity  of  the  ordinary  Hves  of  men. 
Homes  were  almost  as  dreary  in  their  outward  ap- 
pointments as  the  nests  of  eagles  or  the  caves  of 
beasts.  In  the  city  were  narrow  apartments  of  stone 
or  the  shanty  with  its  mud-built  walls,  often  as  con- 
tracted as  the  cells  of  the  monastery  and  as  damp  and 
fetid  as  the  vaults  of  the  prison ;  so  that  the  monk  lost 
little  of  this  world's  comfort  in  entering  his  religious 
retreat,  and  the  prisoner  might  think  himself  happy 
at  times  in  being  better  housed  than  he  would  have 
been  had  he  made  his  home  with  honest  toil.  If  one 
lived  in  the  country  the  habitation  was  a  hut  but  little 
better  than  the  shelter  provided  for  cattle.  Indeed, 
in  many  cases  the  "ox  knew  his  owner"  from  hav- 


14  State  of  Society. 

ing  slept  on  the  same  straw,  and  the  "  ass  his  master's 
crib  "  from  its  proximity  to  the  family  table.  The 
floor  of  the  rude  domicile  was  of  earth  or  stone,  the 
windows  unglazed,  so  that  to  exclude  the  winter 
weather  was  to  shut  out  the  light  also.  A  hole  in  the 
roof  scarcely  sufficed  to  carry  off  the  smoke  from  the 
stoveless  fires.  No  books  entertained  man's  thoughts, 
no  pictures  pleased  his  eye ;  his  news  was  the  gossip 
of  oft- told  tales,  his  faith  such  as  a  priest,  himself  un- 
able to  read,  might  impose  upon  his  less  intelligent 
parishioners.  Even  the  peasant's  liberty  of  his  own 
solitude  was  denied  him ;  he  could  not  range  the 
woods  nor  float  upon  the  streams  at  his  pleasure. 
We  are  told  of  certain  instances  where  the  rustics  re- 
belled against  these  restrictions  imposed  upon  them. 
"  They  took  short  cuts  through  the  woods,  or  used 
the  fords  and  rivers  at  will;"  but  they  were  punished 
by  the  knights,  who  "  cut  off  the  hands  and  feet  of 
the  trespassers."  If  the  rich  were  better  conditioned, 
their  residences  were  unfurnished  with  that  which  the 
middle  classes  in  our  day  regard  as  necessary  to  com- 
fort and  decency.  The  bounty  of  the  table  was  with- 
out variety.  Apparel,  however  gay,  was  such  as 
could  be  wrought  by  the  women  of  the  household. 
The  tapestries  which  excite  our  admiration  were  the 
product  of  untold  .toil  or  purchased  at  vast  expense. 
Within  the  castle  was  spacious  monotony,  relieved 
too  generally  by  the  grossness  of  private  debauch ; 
without  was  the  wilderness,  threaded  by  roads  that 
were  unfit  for  wheeled  vehicles,  menaced  by  wild 
beasts  and  more  dangerous  men. 

The  common  recreation  of  the  lordly  classes  was 


Superstition.  1 5 

hunting  and  hawking,  bear-baiting  and  fighting.  Men 
rode  with  sword  and  spear,  the  ubiquitous  falcon  on 
arm,  and  hounds  in  leash.  So  uni\ersal  were  such 
pastimes  that,  in  lack  of  more  intellectual  and  refined 
resources,  the  highest  dignitaries  of  the  church  dis- 
played the  weapons  of  the  chase  together  with  the 
insignia  of  their  sacred  office.  So  much  of  life  was 
wasted  in  these  amusements  that  the  Council  of  the 
Lateran,  in  11 80,  forbade  the  bishops  indulging  in 
these  sports  while  on  their  pastoral  journeys.  Pre- 
viously Pope  Alexander  III.  (1159-64),  by  special 
edict,  relieved  the  common  clergy  from  the  necessity 
of  keeping  the  archdeacons  in  hounds  and  falcons  dur- 
ing their  visits  to  the  churches. 

Such  a  limitation  of  the  more  generous  and  worthy 
interests  of  mankind,  which  stimulate  and  enlarge  the 
mind,  left  the  common  intelligence  in  an  almost  in- 
fantile condition.  Sismondi  says  that  even  the  nobles 
came  to  count  it  a  duty  not  to  think.  One  can  read- 
ily believe  this  on  recalling  the  titles  given  at  court  to 
the  various  royal  personages  who  graced  it :  Pepin  the 
Short,  Charles  the  Bald,  William  the  Red,  Louis  the 
Fat,  etc. 

Fanc}',  however,  will  generally  survive  the  failure 
of  the  logical  and  aesthetic  faculties,  and  thus  men 
become  the  easy  prey  of  superstition.  All  sorts  of 
stories  of  things  supernatural,  the  invention  of  design- 
ing priests  or  born  of  the  surprise  of  ignorance  at  the 
unusual  in  nature,  were  believed  without  question. 
The  winds  that  rustled  the  leaves  of  the  forest  were 
supposed  to  be  the  \oices  of  saintly  ghosts,  and  when 
with  wintry  weight  they  moaned  through  the  branche?) 


1 6  State  of  Society. 

or  screeched  along  the  icy  rocks,  it  was  beheved  that 
the  damned  were  groaning  in  their  pains  or  that  de- 
mons were  threatening  men.  Every  flash  or  shadow 
that  could  not  readily  be  explained  was  regarded  as 
a  hopeful  or  vengeful  apparition  from  the  unseen 
world.  This  credulity  was  not  confined  to  the  illit- 
erate and  boorish.  The  chroniclers  of  that  age,  upon 
whose  learning  we  depend  for  the  facts  of  our  history ,, 
relate  with  equal  gravity  the  deeds  of  demons  and  men, 
connect  the  doings  of  courts  and  the  course  of  comets, 
and  intermingle  in  relation  of  cause  and  eff"ect  the 
storms  of  nature  and  the  wars  of  nations.  Thus  super- 
stition completed  the  work  of  mental  inoccupancy,  as 
vermin  and  bats  inhabit  an  unfurnished  cell. 

Such  a  condition  of  the  mental  faculties  could  have 
only  a  deleterious  influence  on  the  moral  sense.  We 
are  not,  therefore,  surprised  to  find  the  conscience  of 
the  age  correspondingly  crude. 

This  ethical  degradation  was  reflected  in  the  low 
state  of  the  laws,  if  the  changeable  wills  or  whims  of 
a  host  of  petty  lords  can  be  dignified  with  the  title  of 
legislation.  Power  claimed  possession  with  little  re- 
gard for  the  method  of  acquisition.  Disputes,  when 
relegated  to  the  pretence  of  a  court,  were  tried  not 
by  weighing  evidence,  but  by  counting  the  number 
of  compurgators,  that  is,  of  those  persons  who  would 
swear  that  they  believed  the  oath  of  one  or  the  other 
party.  When  the  contestants  were  gentlemen  or  of 
the  noble  order,  the  cases  were  arbitrated  on  the  field 
of  Private  Combat.  Even  the  judge  or  referee  of  the 
combat  was  himself  liable  to  challenge  from  either 
party  that  felt  itself  aggrieved  by  his  decisior. .    Priests, 


Laws — Private  Combat — The  Ordeal.    17 

invalids,  and  women  were  accustomed  to  choose  some 
one  from  among  their  relatives  or  friends  to  champion 
their  cause.  There  was  no  appeal  to  candid  judgment 
after  a  full  hearing  of  the  facts,  except  in  case  of  dis- 
pute between  slaves,  villains,  and  freemen  of  inferior 
condition,  whose  owners  or  lords  might  be  disposed 
to  fair  dealing.  A  relic  of  the  mediaeval  custom  of 
private  combat  is  the  modern  duel. 

The  personal  encounter  often  grew  to  the  dimen- 
sions of  neighborhood  war,  in  which  kinsmen  and  re- 
tainers were  involved  until  entire  districts  were  laid 
waste.  Neither  the  power  of  Charlemagne  nor  that 
of  the  church  prevailed  against  this  unreasonable  cus- 
tom. The  one  exception  to  this  statement  was  the 
temporary  lull  in  the  carnage  during  what  was  known 
as  the  Truce  of  God,  an  expedient  agreed  upon  in 
certain  places,  according  to  which  raids  and  riots  were 
confined  to  the  half  of  the  week  succeeding  the  Sab- 
bath. But  the  adoption  of  this  merciful  rule  forces 
our  attention  to  its  necessity,  since  "  man's  inhuman- 
ity to  man  "  was  destroying  entire  populations  as  in  a 
deluge  of  blood. 

When  for  any  reason  the  combat  was  inexpedient 
the  question  of  right  was  decided  by  the  Ordeal. 
The  accused  party  presumed  to  walk  through  fire  or 
on  burning  ploughshares,  to  handle  hot  iron,  float 
upon  water,  plunge  the  bare  arm  into  a  boiling  caldron, 
or  swallow  a  bit  of  consecrated  bread  with  appeal  to 
Heaven  to  strike  one  dead  if  guilty.  If  one  endured 
the  Ordeal  unscathed  he  was  said  to  be  acquitted  by 
the  judgment  of  God.  It  is  not  necessary  to  explain 
the  apparent  impunity  with  which  some  of  the  worst 


State  of  Society. 


criminals  passed  these  trials,  nor  to  cite  the  multitude 
of  cases  in  which  persons  of  otherwise  undoubted  in- 
nocence were  adjudged  guilty  because  they  perished 
in  this  irrelevant  attempt  to  vindicate  themselves. 
The  fact  that  questions  involving  the  most  sacred 
rights  of  the  individual,  such  as  the  holding  of  prop- 
erty, the  protection  of  the  body  from  mutilation  on 
the  rack,  the  retaining  of  life,  and  the  vindication  of 
character,  were  not  so  much  as  brought  to  the  court 
of  intelligence  and  conscience  argues  the  degradation 
of  both  these  faculties. 

If  further  evidence  be  needed  that  the  very  sense 
of  justice  had  become  largely  extinguished,  it  is 
found  in  the  prevalence  of  judicial  perjury,  allowed, 
and  even  prompted,  by  legalized  custom.  Before  the 
combat  both  parties  were  required  to  partake  of  the 
sacrament,  in  which  act  one  of  the  contestants,  being 
guilty,  was  forced  to  commit  sacrilege.  Witnesses 
were  sworn  upon  the  relics  of  the  saints  ;  but,  notwith- 
standing these  things  were  believed  to  have  in  them 
a  limitless  power  to  help  or  hurt  those  who  touched 
their  sacred  incasements,  the  people  seem  to  have 
credited  the  righteousness  of  the  dead  as  little  as  the 
impartiahty  of  the  Hving,  and  the  guilty  were  accus- 
tomed to  perjure  themselves  without  dread  of  conse- 
quences. The  soul  of  good  Robert  of  France  was  so 
afflicted  by  the  universal  consciencelessness  in  this 
respect  that  he  devised  an  expedient  for  averting  the 
wrath  of  the  saints,  who  might  justly  avenge  the 
slight  put  upon  their  bones.  He  ordered  that  the 
relics  should  be  secretly  removed  from  the  casket  that 
was  supposed  to  contain  them,  so  that  the  would-be 


Hardness  of  Manners — Brutalily.         19 

perjurer  might  not  actually  commit  the  crime  he  in- 
tended. If  this  act  illustrated  the  mercy,  it  also  dis- 
played the  lack  of  true  moral  sentiment  in  him  who, 
in  contrast  with  his  fellows,  was  known  as  the  "  good 
king." 

Such  stifling  of  the  sense  of  justice  was  quite 
naturally  attended  by  the  suppression  of  the  gentler 
emotions  of  kindness  and  humanity.  This  was  an 
age  of  almost  incredible  cruelty.  Natural  affection, 
of  course,  survived  in  the  love  of  parents  and  children, 
husbands  and  wives.  There  were  delightful  friend- 
ships which  illumined  the  social  gloom  like  threads  of 
gold  in  some  dark  fabric.  Men  and  women  lived  and 
died  for  one  another,  as  they  will  always  do  while  a 
lineament  of  the  divine  remains  in  the  human.  But, 
beyond  the  fascination  of  the  individual  and  the  ob- 
ligations of  kinship,  the  sentiment  of  love  seemed 
unknown  to  the  masses.  The  founders  of  the  great 
benevolent  orders,  men  like  Dominic  and  Francis  of 
Assisi,  oppressed  by  this  deadness  to  the  essential 
Christian  spirit,  were  in  the  near  future  to  unbind  the 
hearts  of  men  that  they  might  come  forth  to  more 
generous  life ;  but  that  day  had  not  yet  come.  Men 
apparently  had  lost  the  sympathetic  imagination  by 
which  the  pains  and  grief  of  the  unfortunate  are  trans- 
ferred to  the  hearts  of  others.  Dean  Stanley  remarks 
of  even  the  thirteenth  century  that  "  the  age  had  no 
sense  of  obhgation  to  the  poor  and  middle  class."  It 
was  still  needful  that  rulers  should  repeat  the  dying 
counsel  of  Charlemagne  to  his  sons,  "  not  to  deprive 
widows  and  orphans  of  their  remaining  estates." 

This  insensibility  to  the  needs  of  others  was  accom- 


20  State  of  Society. 

panied  by  a  positive  gratification  in  scenes  of  cruelty. 
The  popular  stories  which  mothers  taught  their  chil- 
dren were  in  praise  of  heroes  whom  we  would  regard 
as  butchers  and  bruisers.  A  favorite  legend  was  of 
Renoart,  the  flower  of  early  Chivalry — he  of  the  ugly 
visage  and  gigantic  frame,  whose  mace  laid  open  the 
brains  of  his  antagonists,  and  who  broke  the  skull  of 
the  monk  who  refused  to  indulge  his  whim  of  ex- 
changing clothes  with  him.  What  child  of  that  age 
had  not  heard  of  Roland,  the  hero  of  Roncesvalles, 
whose  unstinted  praises  went  far  to  form  the  manly 
habits  of  many  generations?  He  was  an  enfant  ter- 
rible, who  tore  his  swaddling-clothes  in  pieces,  be- 
labored his  mother  furiously,  and  gave  early  promise 
of  his  prowess  by  beating  lifeless  the  porter  of  the 
castle  who  would  not  let  him  go  out  to  play.  And 
how  charming  Roland's  love-making  to  the  fair  Aude ! 
He  saw  her  for  the  first  time  amid  the  galaxy  of  beau- 
ties assembled  to  witness  his  combat  with  Oliver. 
Unable  to  restrain  his  passion,  he  rushed  from  the 
lists,  threw  himself  upon  her,  and  would  have  carried 
her  off  bodily  had  not  Oliver  given  him  one  of  those 
blows  the  echo  of  which  has  rung  the  praises  of  this 
mediaeval  prize-fighter  down  the  ages. 

But  the  people  of  the  eleventh  century  did  not  need 
to  go  back  to  an  earlier  era  for  examples  of  this  sort 
of  manliness,  Foulques  the  Black,  the  greatest  of 
the  counts  of  Anjou  (987-1040),  was  pious  enough  to 
go  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  but  not  sufficiently 
humane  to  refrain  from  burning  his  young  wife  at  the 
stake,  decked  for  her  doom  in  her  gayest  attire.  He 
was  so  humble  that  he  paraded  the  streets  of  the  Holy 


Cruelties.  2 1 

City  with  a  halter  about  his  neck,  while  the  blood 
streamed  from  the  scourge-wounds  on  his  shoulders, 
yet  he  forced  his  own  son  to  be  bridled  and  saddled 
like  an  ass  and  to  crouch  on  all  fours  at  his  feet.  Of 
the  whole  line  of  Anjou  at  this  period  the  historian 
Green  remarks  that  "  their  shameless  wickedness  de- 
graded them  below  the  level  of  man."  The  house  of 
Normandy  contested  the  palm  of  greatness  with  the 
Angevins,  but  were  equally  rude.  When  William  of 
Normandy,  afterwards  the  Conqueror  of  England, 
learned  that  Baldwin  of  Flanders  had  refused  him  his 
daughter  Matilda  in  marriage,  the  chronicle  says  "  he 
forced  his  way  into  the  countess's  chamber,  found  the 
daughter,  took  her  by  her  tresses,  dragged  her  about 
the  room,  and  trampled  her  under  his  feet."  The 
young  lady  does  not  seem  to  have  been  grieved  by 
the  violence  of  the  wooing,  but  rather  to  have  ac- 
quired a  better  appreciation  of  the  lordly  qualities  of 
her  future  husband.  We  may  be  permitted  to  doubt 
the  accuracy  of  this  story,  but  the  fact  that  it  was  so 
early  chronicled  and  generally  believed  attests  the 
popular  taste.  William  Rufus  (1056-1100)  is  thus 
described  by  one  who  knew  him :  "  The  outrager  of 
humanity,  of  law,  and  of  nature;  beastly  in  his  plea- 
sures, a  murderer  and  blasphemous  scoffer."  Henry  I. 
of  England  (1068-1135)  put  out  the  eyes  of  his 
brother  Robert  and  of  his  two  grandchildren,  and 
forced  his  daughter  to  cross  a  frozen  fosse,  stripped 
half  naked. 

The  penalties  under  law  also  revealed  the  hardness 
of  men's  hearts.  Criminals  were  hung  by  their  feet, 
by  their  necks,  or  by   their  thumbs,  with   burning 


2  2  State  of  Society. 

matter  fastened  upon  some  part  of  the  body ;  they 
were  put  into  dungeons  with  snakes,  and  into  cages 
too  small  to  allow  the  full  motion  of  the  limbs ;  they 
were  made  to  wear  wooden  or  iron  collars  of  enor- 
mous weight,  so  arranged  that  the  culprit  could  take 
no  position  without  feeling  the  burden. 

In  battle  the  soldier  was  to  despise  the  bow,  his  de- 
light to  face  the  enemy  at  point  of  sword,  his  glory 
the  blood  that  bespattered  him  from  the  gurgling  ar- 
teries of  the  foe,  or  that  trickled  from  his  own  wounds. 
No  Fabian  policy  gave  eclat  to  the  warrior;  victory 
was  measured  by  the  heaps  of  the  slain,  not  by  the  pro- 
gress of  the  cause.  No  quarter  was  ordinarily  given 
or  expected  on  the  capture  of  strongholds ;  and  not 
infrequently  the  entire  surviving  population  of  con- 
quered cities  paid  with  their  lives  the  penalty  for  hav- 
ing permitted  themselves  to  be  defended  by  the  van- 
quished. Raymond  of  Toulouse  we  shall  learn  to 
admire  as  our  story  advances.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  self-restrained  and  chivalric  of  the  early  crusa- 
ders ;  yet  he  put  out  the  eyes  and  cut  off  the  noses  of 
his  captives,  and  sent  them  thus  mutilated  to  their 
homes,  as  a  warning  to  their  neighbors  not  to  molest 
the  march  of  the  "  soldiers  of  the  cross."  Of  this  act 
of  atrocity  the  chronicler  of  the  day  remarks :  "  It  is 
not  easy  to  do  justice  to  the  bravery  and  wisdom  con- 
spicuously displayed  by  the  count  here."  Too  com- 
monly the  innocence  of  childhood,  the  venerableness 
of  age,  and  the  sacredness  of  sex  v/ere  indiscriminately 
outraged  by  the  license  of  conquest. 

The  love  of  war  for  its  own  sake  was  the  dominant 
passion  of  such  people.     When  no  plausible  pretext 


Love  of  War.  23 

could  be  urged  for  declaration  of  hostilities,  it  burst 
out  between  neighborhoods  as  by  spontaneous  com- 
bustion. Raids  and  counter-raids  took  the  place  of 
the  commercial  rivalries  of  later  times. 

From  the  days  of  Charlemagne  it  had  been  the  cus- 
tom to  signalize  entrance  upon  manhood  by  buckling 
about  the  loins  the  sword,  the  investment  with  "  virile 
arms."  The  church,  in  hopeless  inability  to  check  the 
universal  passion  for  fight,  sought  only  to  direct  it  to 
the  suppression  of  ecclesiastical  enemies.  Pope  Pas- 
chal (1099)  exhorted  Count  Robert  of  Flanders  to 
persecute  to  the  utmost  the  Emperor  Henry,  saying, 
"  By  such  battles  you  shall  obtain  a  place  in  the  hea- 
venly Jerusalem. "  Bernard,  without  dispute  the  holiest 
man  of  the  next  century,  offered  no  excuse  or  pallia- 
tion for  his  harangue  to  the  faithful :  "  Let  them  kill 
the  enemy  or  die.  To  submit  to  die  for  Christ,  or  to 
cause  one  of  His  enemies  to  die,  is  naught  but  glory." 

Very  characteristic  is  the  story  of  the  death  of  the 
youthful  Vivien,  as  told  in  the  famous  "  Chansons  de 
Geste,"  composed  about  this  time,  though  its  alleged 
events  belong  to  an  earlier  date.  Vivien  was  the 
nephew  of  that  William  of  Orange  whose  name  is  as- 
sociated with  the  ri.se  of  knighthood,  as  that  of  the 
later  William  of  Orange  is  with  a  nobler  patriotism. 
There  had  been  a  fearful  fight.  Vivien  was  mortally 
wounded,  and  lay  dying  ere  he  had. partaken  of  his 
first  sacrament.  The  older  warrior  bent  over  him 
on  the  corpse-strewn  field : 

"  You  must  confess  to  me,  because  I  am  your 
nearest  relative  and  there  is  no  priest  here." 

The  failing  lips  of  the  lad  began  the  confession  of 


24  State  of  Society. 

the  sins  of  his  brief  Hfetime.  He  could  think  of  but 
a  single  offence  against  God  or  his  own  nature ;  so 
heinous  was  his  conception  of  the  greatness  of  this 
one  crime  that  it  blotted  out  the  memory  of  all  else. 
What  was  this  monstrous  iniquity? 

"  I  made  a  vow  that  I  would  never  retreat  one  step 
before  an  enemy,  and  this  day  I  have  failed  to  keep 
my  oath." 

William  raised  the  head  of  the  dying  boy,  placed 
the  consecrated  wafer,  which  he  was  accustomed  to 
carry  for  such  emergencies,  between  the  eager  lips  of 
Vivien,  and  watched  the  young  soul  as,  without  fear 
or  misgiving,  it  went  to  the  judgment  of  Him  who  is 
preeminently  the  God  of  battles. 

In  the  wars  of  this  period  a  common  sight  was  that 
of  bishops  and  archbishops,  clad  in  coats  of  mail,  rid- 
ing through  the  streets  of  their  episcopal  towns  on 
fierce  chargers,  and  returning  to  their  palaces  clotted 
with  dirt  and  blood.  That  was  a  deserved  rebuke,  as 
well  as  a  fine  sarcasm,  with  which  Richard  Coeur  de 
Lion  sent  the  blood-stained  armor  of  the  Bishop  of 
Beauvais  to  the  Pope,  as  the  garment  of  Joseph  to 
Jacob,  asking  the  Holy  Father  if  he  recognized  his 
son's  coat. 

Even  women  on  occasion  put  on  armor  and  mingled 
in  the  melee.  Gaita,  the  wife  of  Robert  Guiscard, 
fought  in  the  front  rank  of  the  Normans  in  their 
conflict  with  the  Greeks.  When  the  crusades  were 
in  progress  many  a  fair  woman  adopted  the  martial 
costume.  The  Amazonian  Brunhilde  is  scarcely  over- 
drawn by  Scott  in  "  Count  Robert  of  Paris,"  and  the 
Moslem  heroines  of  Tasso's  "Jerusalem  Delivered," 


Cruelty  of  Greeks.  25 

stripped  of  their  supernatural  resources,  might  have 
figured  in  the  Christian  camp. 

Walter  Scott  put  into  the  mouth  of  the  Greek 
Nicephorus  a  pertinent  description  of  his  fellow- 
Christians  of  the  West :  "  To  whom  the  strife  of 
combat  is  as  the  breath  of  their  nostrils,  who,  rather 
than  not  be  engaged  in  war,  will  do  battle  with  their 
nearest  neighbors  and  challenge  each  other  to  mortal 
fight,  as  much  in  sport  as  we  would  defy  a  comrade 
to  a  chariot- race." 

It  is  but  just  to  say  that,  if  the  Greeks  were  amazed 
at  the  warlike  propensities  of  the  Catholics,  they  ex- 
pressed no  wonder  at  their  cruelty.  In  this  they 
themselves  even  excelled  their  more  robust  rivals. 
The  dungeons  of  Constantinople  were  filled  with 
political  offenders  whose  eyes  were  torn  from  their 
sockets ;  and  more  than  one  imperial  candidate  re- 
sumed his  place  of  honor  among  a  people  whose  wav- 
ing banners  he  was  unable  to  see.  The  Greek  differed 
from  the  Frank  and  German,  the  Norman  and  Saxon, 
chiefly  in  being  a  coward  and  choosing  to  glut  his 
brutal  instincts  with  the  use  of  the  secret  torture,  the 
poisoned  cup,  or  the  dagger  in  the  back  of  his  victim, 
rather  than  with  the  sword  and  battle-axe  in  open 
fight. 

To  a  people  such  as  we  have  described  the  appeal 
for  the  crusades,  in  which  the  imagined  cause  of 
heaven  marched  in  step  with  their  own  tastes  and 
habits,  was  irresistible. 


CHAPTER   III. 

CHIVALRY — RULES — EDUCATION    OF    KNIGHT — 
CEREMONIES — INFLUENCE    ON    CHARACTER. 

HE  call  for  the  crusades,  while  appealing 
powerfully  to  the  warlike  disposition  of 
the  people,  would  not  have  succeeded  in 
rousing  Europe  had  there  not  been  in  the 
popular  heart  at  least  the  germs  of  nobler 
sentiment.  The  vitality  of  conscience  notwithstand- 
ing its  degradation,  and  an  inclination  towards  the 
exercise  of  the  finer  graces  of  conduct  in  spite  of  the 
prevalent  grossness,  manifested  themselves  in  the  rise 
of  Chivalry. 

The  picturesqueness  of  knight-errantry,  and  the 
glamour  thrown  over  the  subject  by  poetry  and  ro- 
mance, may  mislead  us  as  to  the  real  character  of  this 
institution.  We  must  distinguish  between  the  ideals 
of  knighthood  and  the  actual  lives  of  those  who,  from 
various  motives,  thronged  the  profession.  We  must 
not  confound  the  Chivalry  of  these  earlier  and  ruder 
ages  with  that  of  its  more  refined,  though  somewhat 
effeminate,  later  days.  It  would  be  an  equal  mistake 
to  po.se  the  half-savage  Saxon  for  a  picture  of  the 
gallant  Provenfal,  because  they  were  fellows  of  the 

25 


Rules  of  Chivalry.  2  7 

same  order.  But,  making  all  allowance  for  variations, 
defects,  and  perversions  in  Chivalry,  the  institution 
went  far  towards  redeeming  the  character  of  the  mid- 
dle ages.  Among  the  articles  of  the  chivalric  code 
were  the  following : 

To  fight  for  the  faith  of  Christ.  In  illustration  of 
this  part  of  his  vow,  the  knight  always  stood  with 
bared  head  and  unsheathed  sword  during  the  reading 
of  the  lesson  from  the  gospels  in  the  church  service. 

To  serve  faithfully  prince  and  fatherland. 

To  defend  the  weak,  especially  widows,  orphans, 
and  damsels. 

To  do  nothing  for  greed,  but  ever}'thing  for  glory. 

To  keep  one's  word,  even  returning  to  prison  or 
death  if,  having  been  captured  in  fair  fight,  one  had 
promised  to  do  so. 

Together  with  these  vows  of  real  virtue  were  others, 
which  signified  more  for  the  carnal  pride  of  the  war- 
rior, e.g.  : 

Never  to  fight  in  companies  against  one  opponent. 

To  wear  but  one  sword,  unless  the  enemy  displayed 
more  than  one. 

Not  to  put  off  armor  while  upon  an  adventure, 
except  for  a  night's  rest. 

Never  to  turn  out  of  a  straight  road  in  order  to 
a\'oid  danger  from  man,  beast,  or  monster. 

Never  to  decline  a  challenge  to  equal  combat,  un- 
less compelled  to  do  so  by  wounds,  sickness,  or  other 
equally  reasonable  hindrance. 

The  aspirant  for  knighthood  began  his  career  in 
early  boyhood  by  attending  some  superior  as  his 
page.    Lads  of  noblest  families  sought  to  be  attached 


28  Chivalry. 

to  the  persons  of  those  renowned  in  the  order,  though 
not  to  their  own  fathers,  lest  their  disciphne  should 
be  over-indulgent.  Frequently  knights  of  special 
note  for  valor  and  skill  at  arms  opened  schools  for  the 
training  of  youth.  The  page  was  expected  to  wait 
upon  his  lord  as  a  body-servant  in  the  bedchamber, 
the  dining-hall,  and,  when  consistent  with  his  tender 
years,  upon  the  journey  and  in  the  camp.  It  was  a 
maxim  of  the  code  that  one  "  should  learn  to  obey 
before  attempting  to  govern." 

With  the  development  of  manly  strength,  at  about 
his  fourteenth  year  the  page  became  an  esquire.  He 
then  burnished  and  repaired  the  armor  of  his  chief, 
broke  his  steeds,  led  his  charger,  and  carried  his 
shield  to  the  field  of  battle.  In  the  melee  he  fought 
by  his  master's  side,  nursed  him  when  wounded,  and 
valued  his  own  life  as  naught  when  weighed  against 
his  lord's  safety  or  honor. 

The  faithful  esquire  was  adubbed  a  knight  at  the 
will  and  by  the  hand  of  his  superior.  This  honor 
was  sometimes  awarded  on  the  field  of  conflict  for  a 
specially  valiant  deed.  More  commonly  the  heroic 
subalterns  were  summoned  to  receive  the  coveted 
prize  v/hen  the  fight  was  done.  More  than  one  in- 
stance is  mentioned  where  the  esquire  bowed  his  head 
beneath  the  dead  hand  of  his  master  and  there  as- 
sumed the  duty  of  completing  the  enterprise  in  which 
his  chief  had  fallen.  Ordinarily,  however,  the  cere- 
mony was  held  in  the  castle  hall,  or  in  later  times  in 
the  church,  on  the  occasion  of  some  festival  or  upon 
the  candidate's  reaching  the  year  of  his  majority.. 

The  rite  of  admission  to  knighthood  was  made  as 


Rites.  29 

impressive  as  possible.  Tiie  young  man,  having 
come  from  tiie  bath,  was  clothed  in  a  white  tunic, 
expressive  of  tiie  purity  of  his  purpose;  then  in  a 
red  robe,  symbolical  of  the  blood  he  was  ready  to 
shed ;  and  in  a  black  coat,  to  remind  him  of  the  death 
that  might  speedily  be  his  portion.  After  fasting, 
the  candidate  spent  the  night  in  prayer.  In  the 
morning  the  priest  administered  to  him  the  holy  com- 
munion, and  blessed  the  sword  which  hung  from  his 
neck.  Attendant  knights  and  ladies  then  clothed 
him  in  his  armor.  Kneeling  at  the  feet  of  the  lord, 
he  received  from  him  the  accolade,  three  blows  with 
the  flat  of  the  sword  upon  his  shoulder,  with  the 
repetition  of  the  formula,  "  In  the  name  of  God,  St. 
Michael,  and  St.  George,  I  make  thee  a  knight." 

More  impressive,  because  more  unusual,  was  the 
ceremony  of  his  degradation,  if  he  broke  his  plighted 
faith  or  forfeited  his  honor.  He  was  exposed  on  a 
platform,  stripped  of  his  armor,  which  was  broken  to 
pieces  and  thrown  upon  a  dunghill.  His  shield  was 
dragged  in  the  dirt  by  a  cart-horse,  his  own  charger's 
tail  was  cut  off,  while  he  was  himself  carried  into  a 
church  on  a  litter,  and  forced  to  listen  to  the  burial 
service,  since  he  was  now  to  move  among  men  as  one 
who  was  dead  to  the  honor  for  which  he  had  vowed 
to  live. 

The  chief  defect  of  Chivalry  was  that,  while  it  dis- 
played some  of  the  finer  sentiments  of  the  soul  in 
contrast  with  the  general  grossness  of  the  age,  it  did 
not  a.spire  to  the  highest  motives  as  these  were  felt 
in  the  early  days  of  Christianity  and  as  they  are 
again  apprehended  in  modern  times.    Notwithstand- 


so  Chivalry. 

ing  the  vow  of  devotion,  there  was  httle  that  was 
altruistic  about  it.  The  thought  of  the  devotee  was 
ultimately  upon  himself,  his  renown  and  glory.  His 
crested  helmet,  his  gilded  spurs,  his  horse  in  housing 
of  gold,  and  the  scarlet  silk  which  marked  him  as  apart 
from  and  above  his  fellows,  were  not  promotive  of 
that  humility  and  self-forgetfulness  from  which  all 
great  moral  actions  spring.  Our  modern  characteri- 
zation of  the  proud  man  is  borrowed  from  the  knight's 
leaving  his  palfrey  and  mounting  his  charger,  or,  as 
it  was  called,  getting  "  on  his  high  horse."  In  battle 
the  personality  of  the  knight  was  not,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  modern  soldier,  merged  in  the  autonomy  of 
the  brigade  or  squadron ;  he  appeared  singly  against 
a  selected  antagonist  of  equal  rank  with  his  own,  so 
that  the  field  presented  the  appearance  of  a  multitude 
of  private  combats.  In  the  lull  of  regular  warfare  he 
sought  solitary  adventures  for  gaining  renown,  and 
often  challenged  his  companions  in  arms  to  contest 
with  him  the  palm  of  greater  glory.  Writers  aptly 
liken  the  mediasval  knights  to  the  heroic  chiefs  of 
Arabia,  and  even  of  the  American  Indians,  to  whom 
personal  prowess  is  more  than  patriotism.  Hallam 
would  choose  as  the  finest  representative  of  the  chiv- 
alric  spirit  the  Greek  Achilles,  who  could  fight  val- 
iantly, or  sulk  in  his  tent  regardless  of  the  cause,  when 
his  individual  honor  or  right  seemed  to  be  menaced. 
The  association  of  Chivalry  with  gallantry,  though 
prompted  by  the  benevolent  motive  of  helping  the 
weak  or  paying  homage  to  woman  as  the  embodi- 
ment of  the  pure  and  beautiful,  did  not  always  serve 
these  high  purposes.     The  "  love  of  God  and  the 


Defects.  3 1 

ladies,"  enjoined  as  a  single  duty,  was  often  to  the 
detriment  of  the  religious  part  of  the  obligation.  The 
fair  one  who  was  championed  in  the  tournament  was 
apt  to  be  sought  beyond  the  lists.  The  poetry  of  the 
Troubadours  shows  liow  the  purest  and  most  delicate 
sentiment  next  to  the  religious,  the  love  of  man  for 
woman,  became  debauched  by  a  custom  which  flaunted 
amid  the  brutal  scenes  of  the  combat  the  name  of  her 
whose  glory  is  her  modesty,  and  often  made  her  virtue 
the  prize  of  the  ring. 

Doubtless  the  good  knight  felt  that  the  altar  of  his 
consecration  was  not  high  enough.  Even  his  vow  to 
defend  the  faith  had,  within  the  bounds  of  Christen- 
dom, little  field  where  it  could  be  honored  by  exploit 
of  arms.  To  take  his  part  in  the  miserable  quarrels 
that  were  chronic  between  rival  popes,  or  in  the  wars 
of  the  imperial  against  the  prelatic  powers,  both  pro- 
fessedly Christian,  could  not  satisfy  any  really  reli- 
gious desires  he  may  have  felt.  The  chivalric  spirit 
thus  kindled  the  aspiration  for  an  ideal  which  it  could 
not  furnish.  If  the  soldier  of  the  cross  must  wear 
armor,  he  would  find  no  satisfaction  unless  he  sheathed 
his  sword  in  the  flesh  of  the  Infidels,  whose  hordes 
were  gathering  beyond  the  borders  of  Christendom. 
The  institution  of  Chivalry  thus  prepared  the  way  for 
the  crusades,  which  aff'ordcd  a  field  for  all  its  physical 
heroism,  while  at  the  same  time  these  great  move- 
ments stimulated  and  gratified  what  to  this  super- 
stitious age  was  the  deepest  religious  impulse. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   FEUDAL    SYSTEM — GENERAL   PRINCIPLES 
— INFLUENCE    ON    PEOPLE. 

N  accounting  for  the  crusades  we  must 
consider  the  governmental  condition  of 
Europe  at  the  time.  Under  no  other 
system  than  that  of  feudahsm  would  it 
have  been  possible  to  unify  and  mobilize 
the  masses  for  the  great  adventure.  Had  Europe 
then  been  dominated  by  several  great  rulers,  each 
with  a  nation  at  his  control,  as  the  case  has  been  in 
subsequent  times,  even  the  popes  would  have  been 
unable  to  combine  the  various  forces  in  any  enterprise 
that  was  not  purely  spiritual.  Just  to  the  extent  in 
which  the  separate  nationalities  have  developed  their 
autonomy  has  the  secular  influence  of  the  Roman  see 
been  lessened.  Kings  and  emperors,  whenever  they 
have  felt  themselves  strong  enough  to  do  so,  have  re- 
sented the  leadership  of  Rome  in  matters  having  tem- 
poral bearings. 

Nor  would  the  mutual  jealousies  of  the  rulers 
themselves  have  allowed  them  to  unite  in  any  move- 
ment for  the  common  glory,  since  the  most  urgent 
calls  have  never  been  sufficient  to  unite  them  even 

32 


Minute  Subdivision  of  Europe.  t,t, 

for  the  common  defence,  as  is  shown  by  the  supine- 
ness  of  CathoHc  Europe  when,  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, the  Turks  crossed  the  Marmora  and  assailed 
Constantinople. 

But  in  the  eleventh  century  there  was  no  strong 
national  government  in  Europe  ;  kingship  and  imperi- 
alism existed  rather  in  name  than  in  such  power  as 
we  are  accustomed  to  associate  with  the  words.  At 
the  opening  of  the  tenth  century  France  was  parcelled 
out  into  twenty- nine  petty  states,  each  controlled  by 
its  feudal  lord.  Hugh  Capet  (987-996)  succeeded  in 
temporarily  combining  under  his  sceptre  these  frag- 
ments of  Charlemagne's  estate ;  but  his  successors 
were  unable  to  perpetuate  the  common  dominion. 
In  the  year  1000  there  were  fifty-five  great  Frankish 
lords  who  were  independent  of  the  nominal  sovereign. 
Indeed,  some  of  these  nobles  exercised  authority 
more  weighty  than  that  of  the  throne.  Louis  VI. 
(1108)  first  succeeded  in  making  his  lordly  vassals 
respect  his  kingship,  but  his  domain  was  small.  "  lie 
de  France,  properly  so  called,  and  a  part  of  Orlcan- 
nais,  pretty  nearly  the  five  departments  of  the  Seine, 
French  Vexin,  half  the  countship  of  Sens,  and  the 
countship  of  Bourges — such  was  the  whole  of  it.  But 
this  limited  state  was  as  liable  to  agitation,  and  often 
as  troublous  and  toilsome  to  govern,  as  the  very 
greatest  of  modern  states.  It  was  full  of  petty  lords, 
almost  sovereign  in  their  own  estates,  and  sufficiently 
strong  to  struggle  against  their  kingly  suzerain,  who 
had,  besides,  all  around  his  domains  several  neighbors 
more  powerful  than  himself  in  the  extent  and  popu- 
lation of  their  states  "  (Guizot). 


34  Feudal  System. 

In  Spain  much  of  the  land  was  still  held  by  the 
Moors.  That  which  had  been  wrested  from  them 
was  divided  among  the  Christian  heroes  who  con- 
quered it,  and  who,  though  feudal  rules  were  not 
formally  recognized,  held  it  with  an  aristocratic  pre- 
tension commensurate  with  the  leagues  they  shadowed 
with  their  swords. 

In  Germany,  though  imperialism  had  been  estab- 
lished firmly  by  Otho  the  Great,  the  throne  was  forced 
to  continual  compromise  with  the  ambition  of  its  chief 
vassals,  like  the  dukes  of  Saxony,  Bavaria,  Swabia, 
and  Franconia.  A  papal  appeal  to  such  magnates 
was  sufficient  at  any  time  to  paralyze,  or  at  least  to 
neutralize,  the  imperial  authority. 

The  Norman  holdings  in  the  south  of  Italy,  the 
independence  of  the  cities  of  Lombardy  in  the  north, 
the  claims  of  the  German  emperor  and  of  the  popes 
to  landed  control,  were  typical  of  the  divisions  of 
that  unhappy  peninsula. 

Later  than  the  age  we  are  studying,  Frederick 
Barbarossa  (1152-90)  enjoined  that  "in  every  oath 
of  fealty  to  an  inferior  lord  the  vassal's  duty  to  the 
emperor  should  be  expressly  reserved."  But  it  was 
not  so  elsewhere.  When  Henry  II.  (1154-89)  and 
Richard  I.  (1189-99)  claimed  lands  in  France,  their 
French  vassals  never  hesitated  to  adhere  to  these 
English  lords,  nor  "  do  they  appear  to  have  incurred 
any  blame  on  that  account.  St.  Louis  (1226-70)  de- 
clared in  his  laws  that  if  '  justice  be  refused  by  the 
king  to  one  of  his  vassals,  the  vassal  may  summon  his 
own  tenants,  under  penalty  of  forfeiting  their  fiefs,  to 
assist  him  in  obtaining  redress  by  arms '  "  (Hallam). 


Baronial  I ndepcndcucc,  35 

The  extent  to  which  the  French  barons  were  in- 
dependent of  the  throne  will  be  evident  from  a  glance 
at  their  privileges.     They  possessed  unchallenged  : 

(i)  The  right  of  coining  money.  In  Hugh  Capet's 
time  there  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  independent 
mints  in  the  realm. 

(2)  The  right  of  waging  private  war.  Every  castle 
was  a  fortress,  always  equipped  as  in  a  state  of  siege. 

(3)  Immunity  from  taxation.  Except  that  the  king 
was  provided  with  entertainment  on  his  journeys,  the 
crown  had  no  revenue  beyond  that  coming  from  the 
personal  estates  of  its  occupant. 

(4)  Freedom  from  all  legislative  control.  Law- 
making ceased  with  the  capitularies  of  Carloman  in 
882.  The  first  renewal  of  the  attempt  at  general 
legislation  was  not  until  the  time  of  Louis  VIII.  in 
1223.  Even  St.  Louis  declared  in  his  establishments 
that  the  king  could  make  no  laws  for  the  territories 
of  the  barons  without  their  consent. 

(5)  Exclusive  right  of  original  judicature. 

But  if  such  was  the  independence  of  the  feud-holder 
in  his  relations  to  the  sovereign,  those  beneath  him 
were  in  absolute  dependence  upon  their  lord.  This 
is  seen  in  the  following  obligations  of  feudal  tenants 
to  their  superior: 

(i)  Reliefs:  sums  of  money  due  from  every  one 
coming  of  age  and  taking  a  fief  by  inheritance;  fines 
upon  alienation  or  change  of  tenant  ownership. 

(2)  Escheats :  reversion  to  the  lord  of  all  property 
upon  a  tenant's  dying  without  natural  heirs,  or  upon 
any  delinquency  of  service. 

(3)  Aids :  contributions  levied  in  special  emergency, 


J 


6  Feudal  System. 


as  the  lord's  expedition  to  the  Holy  Land,  the  mar- 
riage of  his  sister,  eldest  son,  or  daughter,  his  paying 
a  "  relief  "  to  his  overlord,  making  his  son  a  knight, 
or  redeeming  his  own  person  from  captivity. 

(4)  Wardship  of  tenant  during  minority.  This  in- 
volved on  the  part  of  the  lord  the  right  to  select  a 
husband  for  a  female  dependent,  which  alliance  could 
be  declined  only  on  payment  of  a  fine  equal  to  that 
which  any  one  desiring  the  woman  could  be  induced 
to  offer  for  her. 

If  the  feudal  system  pressed  so  harshly  upon  those 
who  were  themselves  of  high  rank,  it  need  not  be 
said  that  the  common  people  were  utterly  crushed 
by  this  accumulation  of  graded  despotisms,  whose 
whole  weight  rested  ultimately  on  the  lowest  stratum. 
The  mass  of  the  lowly  was  divided  into  three  orders : 

(i)  Freemen  possessing  small  tracts  of  allodial  land, 
so  called  because  held  by  original  occupancy  and  not 
yet  merged  in  the  larger  holdings.  There  were  many 
freemen  in  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  but  in  the 
tenth  century  nearly  all  the  land  of  Europe  had  be- 
come feudal.  The  freemen,  whose  possessions  were 
small,  soon  found  it  necessary  to  surrender  land  and 
liberty  for  the  sake  of  protection  by  some  neighboring 
lord. 

(2)  Villains  or  serfs,  who  were  attached  to  the  land 
and  transferable  with  it  on  change  of  owners. 

(3)  Slaves.  The  degradation  of  the  servile  class 
was  limitless,  the  master  having  the  right  of  life  and 
death,  entire  use  of  the  property  and  wages  of  his 
people,  and  absolute  disposal  of  them  in  marriage. 
Slavery  was  abolished  in  France  by  Louis  the  Gross 


Bo7idagc  of  the  Masses — Comviuiics.      2>1 

(i  108-37)  so  far  as  respected  the  inhabitants  of  cities  ; 
but  it  took  nearly  two  centuries  more  to  accomphsh 
the  abohtion  of  servitude  throughout  the  kingdom. 

The  cities  were,  indeed,  rising  to  assert  their  com- 
munal, if  not  manhood,  rights.  The  communes,  as 
they  were  called,  demanded  and  received  privilege 
in  certain  places  of  electing  any  persons  to  member- 
ship as  citizens  who  were  guaranteed  absolute  owner- 
ship of  property.  But  the  communes  were  far  from 
even  suggesting  anything  like  the  modern  democratic 
systems,  and  were  opposed  by  clergy  and  nobility. 
"  So  that,"  says  Guizot,  "  security  could  hardly  be 
purchased,  save  at  the  price  of  liberty.  Liberty  was 
then  so  stormy  and  so  fearful  that  people  conceived, 
if  not  a  disgust  for  it,  at  any  rate  a  horror  of  it." 
Men  had  not  evolved  the  morality  which  could  make 
a  commonwealth.  Law  was  bound  on  men  only  by 
force.  The  wall  of  the  castle,  grand  and  impressive 
as  wealth  could  build  it,  or  only  a  rude  addition  to 
the  natural  rock,  was  the  sole  earthly  object  of  rever- 
ence. To  the  strong  man  came  the  weak,  saying, 
"  Let  me  be  yours;  protect  me  and  I  will  fight  for 
you." 

It  will  be  evident  that  under  the  feudal  system 
patriotism,  in  the  modern  sense  of  attachment  to  one's 
national  domain,  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  existed. 
While  we  may  not  believe  recent  French  writers  who 
assert  that  the  love  of  their  country  as  such  was  born 
with  the  Revolution  a  hundred  years  ago,  it  is  certain 
that  the  mediaeval  attachment  was  no  wider  than  to 
one's  immediate  neighborhood.  The  crusading  Count 
of  Flanders,  on  viewing  the  desolate  hills  about  Jeru- 


2,^  Fettdal  System. 

salem,  exclaimed,  "  I  am  astonished  that  Jesus  Christ 
could  have  lived  in  such  a  desert.  I  prefer  my  big 
castle  in  my  district  of  Arras."  The  love  of  the 
peasant  seems  to  have  been  only  for  his  familiar  hills 
and  vineyards,  and  his  loyalty  was  limited  by  the 
protecting  hand  of  his  lord. 

Yet  generous  spirits  could  not  remain  forever  so 
narrowly  bounded  in  their  interests.  Men  were  ready 
to  hear  the  call  to  a  wider  range  of  sympathies  and 
actions.  The  summons  for  the  crusades  thus  furnished 
the  lacking  sentiment  of  patriotism ;  but  it  was  a 
patriotism  that  could  not  be  bounded  by  the  Rhine 
or  the  Danube,  by  the  Channel  or  the  Pyrenees. 
Europe  was  country ;  Christendom  was  fatherland. 

At  the  same  time  the  compactness  of  each  feud, 
the  close  interdependence  of  lord  and  vassal,  furnished 
the  condition  for  the  organization  of  bands  of  fighting 
men,  ready  to  move  at  once,  and  to  continue  the 
enterprise  so  long  as  the  means  of  the  superior  should 
hold  out.  There  was  needed  to  start  the  crusading 
armies  no  council  of  parliament  or  alliance  of  nations, 
hazarded  and  delayed  by  the  variant  policies  of  dif- 
ferent courts.  If  the  baron  was  inclined  to  obey  the 
call  of  his  ghostly  superior,  the  successor  of  St.  Peter, 
his  retainers  were  ready  to  march.  And  the  most 
brawling  of  the  barons  was  superstitious  enough  to 
think  that  the  voice  of  the  Pope  might  be  the  voice 
of  God.  If  he  did  not,  his  retainers  did,  and  dis- 
obedience to  the  papal  will  might  cost  him  the  obedi- 
ence of  those  subject  to  him.  Besides,  many  of  the 
feudal  lords  were  themselves  in  clerical  orders,  with 
their  oath  of  fealty  lying  at  the  feet  of  the  Holy  Father. 


Feudalism  and  the  Crusades.  39 

Thus  Europe,  though  divided  into  many  factions, 
and,  indeed,  because  the  factions  were  so  many,  was 
in  a  condition  to  be  readily  united.  We  shall  see  in 
a  subsequent  chapter  that  it  was  in  the  interest  of  the 
holy  see  to  apply  the  spring  which  should  combine 
and  set  in  motion  these  various  communities  as  but 
parts  of  that  gigantic  piece  of  ecclesiastical  and  mili- 
tary mechanism  invented  by  Hildebrand. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  IMPOVERISHED  CONDITION  OF  EUROPE. 

HE  once  luxuriant  civilization  of  Rome 
had  been  swept  away  by  the  Northern 
invaders  as  completely  as  a  freshet  de- 
spoils the  fields  when  it  not  only  destroys 
standing  vegetation,  but  carries  with  the 
debris  the  soil  itself.  The  most  primitive  arts,  those 
associated  with  agriculture,  were  forgotten,  and  the 
rudiments  of  modern  industries  were  not  thought  of. 
Much  of  the  once  cultivated  land  had,  as  has  else- 
where been  noted,  reverted  to  native  forest  and 
marsh,  and  in  places  was  still  being  purchased  by 
strangers  on  titles  secured  by  occupancy  and  first  im- 
provement, as  now  in  the  new  territories  of  America. 
But  even  nature's  pity  for  man  was  outraged ;  the 
bounty  she  gave  from  half-tilled  acres  was  despoiled 
by  men  themselves,  as  hungry  children  snatch  the 
morsels  of  charity  from  one  another's  hands.  What 
was  hoarded  for  personal  possession  became  the  spoil 
of  petty  robbers,  and  what  was  left  by  the  neigh- 
borhood marauder  was  destroyed  in  the  incessant 
baronial  strife.  To  these  devouring  forces  must  be 
added  the  desolating  wars  between  the  papal  and  im- 

40 


Pauperism  at  Home — Plenty  Abroad.     41 

perial  powers,  the  conquest  and  reconquest  of  Spain 
by  Moors  and  Christians,  and  the  despoihng  of  Saxon 
England  by  the  Normans.  Throughout  Europe,  fields, 
cottages,  castles,  oftentimes  churches,  were  stripped 
by  the  vandalism  which  had  seemingly  become  a 
racial  disposition.  To  this  ordinary  impoverished 
condition  was  added  the  especial  misery,  about  1195, 
of  several  years'  failure  of  crops.  Famine  stalked 
through  France  and  middle  Europe;  villages  were 
depopulated.  Cruel  as  they  were,  men  grew  weary 
of  raiding  one  another's  possessions  when  there  was 
nothing  to  bring  back  but  wounds.  Even  hatred 
palled  when  unsupported  by  envy  and  cupidity. 

The  crusades  gave  promise  of  opening  a  new  world 
to  greed.  The  stories  that  were  told  of  Eastern 
riches  grew,  as  repeated  from  tongue  to  tongue,  until 
fable  seemed  poor  in  comparison  with  what  was  be- 
lieved to  be  fact.  All  the  wealth  of  antiquity  was 
presumed  to  be  still  stored  in  treasure-vaults,  which 
the  magic  key  of  the  cross  would  unlock.  The  im- 
poverished baron  might  exchange  his  half-ruined 
castle  for  some  splendid  estate  beyond  the  .^gean, 
and  the  vulgar  crowd,  if  they  did  not  find  Jerusalem 
paved  with  gold  like  the  heavenly  city,  would  as- 
suredly tread  the  veins  of  rich  mines  or  rest  among 
the  flowers  of  an  earthly  paradise.  The  Moham- 
medan's expectation  of  a  sensual  heaven  after  death 
was  matched  by  the  Christian's  anticipation  of  what 
awaited  him  while  still  in  life. 

They  who  were  uninHuenced  by  this  prospect  may 
have  seized  the  more  warrantable  hope  of  opening 
profitable  traffic  with  the  Orient.    The  maritime  cities 


42       Impoverished  Condition  of  Europe. 

of  Italy  had  for  a  long  time  harvested  great  gains  in 
the  eastern  Mediterranean,  in  spite  of  the  Moslem 
interruptions  of  commerce.  Would  not  a  tide  of 
wealth  pour  westward  if  only  the  swords  of  the 
Christians  could  hew  down  its  barriers? 

The  church  piously,  but  none  the  less  shrewdly, 
stimulated  the  sense  of  economy  or  greed  by  securing 
exemption  from  taxation  to  all  who  should  enlist,  and 
putting  a  corresponding  burden  of  excise  upon  those 
who  remained  at  home,  whose  estates  were  assessed 
to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  absent.  The  householder 
who  found  it  difficult  to  save  his  possessions  while 
keeping  personal  guard  over  them  was  assured  that 
all  his  family  and  effects  would  be  under  the  watch- 
ful protection  of  the  church,  with  anathemas  already 
forged  against  any  who  should  molest  them.  If  one 
were  without  means  he  might  borrow  to  the  limit  of 
his  zeal,  with  exemption  from  interest.  It  was  un- 
derstood that  the  Jews  were  still  under  necessity  of 
paying  back  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  with  which 
they  had  bought  the  Christians'  Lord,  the  interest  on 
which,  compounded  through  the  centuries,  was  now 
equal  in  amount  to  all  there  might  be  in  the  vaults 
of  this  accursed  race. 

When  we  remember  the  wars  of  modern  times 
which  have  originated  in  the  cupidity  of  men,  we  are 
not  surprised  that  the  same  disposition,  inflamed  by 
the  sense  of  dire  need  at  home  and  the  vision  of 
untold  treasures  out7'e  vier,  with  heavenly  rewards 
beyond  the  sky,  should  have  led  to  the  same  result 
in  an  age  that  knew  almost  nothing  of  the  arts  of 
peace. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  PAPAL  POLICY — DEMORALIZATION  OF  THE 
WORLD  AND  THE  CHURCH — HILDEBRAND'S 
PURPOSE   INHERITED   BY    HIS    SUCCESSORS. 

E  shall  fail  to  appreciate  the  inception  of 
the  crusades  if  we  overlook  the  influence 
of  the  papal  policy  in  the  middle  ages. 
These  movements  of  Europe  against  Asia, 
being  under  the  direct  patronage  of  the 
popes,  facilitated  the  plans  of  Rome  to  consolidate 
and  universalize  the  ecclesiastical  empire.  To  un- 
derstand this  policy  we  must  recall  the  condition  of 
the  church  in  its  relation  to  popular  life  and  the  sec- 
ular powers. 

We  have  referred  to  the  fact  that  the  year  looo 
had  been  looked  forward  to  as  that  which  should 
mark  the  end  of  the  world.  So  common  was  the 
expectation  of  this  termination  of  human  affairs  that 
many  charters,  which  have  been  preserved  from  this 
period,  begin  with  the  words,  "  As  the  world  is  now 
drawing  to  its  close."  When,  however,  the  fatal  day 
passed  without  any  perceptible  shock  to  the  universe, 
the  popular  credulity  added  the  thirty-three  years  of 
the  life  of  our  Lord  to  the  calculation,  and  prolonged 


44  The  Papal  Policy. 

the  gruesome  foreboding.  But  if  the  chronological 
interpretation  of  the  prophecy  of  the  Book  of  Reve- 
lation was  a  mistaken  one,  there  was  not  wanting  an 
apparent  fulfilment  of  the  descriptive  prediction, 
"  Satan  shall  be  loosed  out  of  his  prison."  The  falsity 
and  viciousness  of  men  certainly  took  on  fiendish 
proportions. 

The  worst  feature  of  the  general  demoralization 
was  that  the  millennial  fear  had  driven  all  sorts  of 
men  into  church  orders.  The  priesthood  and  mon- 
asteries were  crowded  with  wretched  characters, 
whose  imagined  immunity  in  their  sacred  refuges 
gave  license  to  their  carnal  vices.  The  clergy  were 
no  longer  the  shepherds,  but  the  bell-wethers  of  the 
wayward  flock.  Priests  lived  in  open  concubinage. 
When  Hildebrand,  previous  to  his  elevation  to  the 
Papacy,  took  charge  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Paul  in 
Rome,  his  first  work  was  to  drive  out  the  cattle  that 
were  stabled  in  the  basilica,  and  the  prostitutes  who 
served  the  tables  of  the  monks.  Courtesans  reigned 
even  in  the  palaces  of  the  popes  with  more  efifrontery 
than  in  the  courts  of  the  secular  princes.  The  off- 
spring of  such  creatures  as  the  infamous  Theodora, 
and  of  her  daughters  Theodora  and  Marozia,  had,  in 
the  tenth  century,  purchased  the  tiara  with  their 
vices.  In  those  days  the  papal  staff"  was  wrenched 
by  violence  from  the  hands  that  held  it  with  more 
frequency  than  the  old  Roman  sceptre  had  been 
stolen  in  the  worst  days  of  the  empire.  It  may  well 
be  credited  that  men  began  to  pray  again  to  pagan 
deities  in  sheer  despondency  under  the  darkness 
which   veiled   the    Christian   truth.      The  surviving 


Corruption  of  the  Papacy.  45 

religious  sentiment  was  voiced  in  the  solemn  utter- 
ance of  the  Council  of  Rheims,  which  declared  that 
the  church  was  "  ruled  l)y  monsters  of  iniquity,  want- 
ing in  all  culture,  whether  sacred  or  profane." 

If  the  tenth  century  closed  with  a  gleam  of  hope 
in  the  elevation  of  Gregory  V.  (996-999)  and  Syl- 
vester II.  (999-1003),  it  was  quickly  remembered 
that  the  learning  of  the  latter  had  been  acquired 
among  the  Saracens ;  and  his  biographer  attributed 
his  attainments  to  magic  and  undue  familiarity  with 
the  fiends  in  hell. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  eleventh  century  the  papal 
chair  was  filled  with  the  nominees  of  politicians,  and 
from  1033  to  1045  disgraced  by  Benedict  IX.,  who 
at  the  age  of  twelve  was  selected  to  pose  as  the  Vice- 
gerent of  God.  The  lowest  vices  and  caprices  of 
unconscionable  youth  were  enthroned  in  the  place 
that  was  most  sacred  in  the  thoughts  of  men.  One 
of  his  successors,  Victor  III.  (1086-87),  said  of  Bene- 
dict that  he  led  a  life  so  shameful,  so  foul  and  exe- 
crable, that  it  made  one  shudder  to  describe  it.  A 
man  of  such  grovelling  appetites  naturally  wearied 
with  even  the  slight  usages  of  decency  which  had 
come  to  be  regarded  as  necessary  in  the  papal  palace  ; 
and  after  twelve  years  of  irksome  attempt  to  support 
its  lessened  dignity,  he  sold  his  tiara  to  Gregory  VI. 
An  unknown  writer,  about  the  middle  of  the  eleventh 
century,  attempting  a  review  of  the  passing  age,  ex- 
claimed, "  Everything  is  degenerate  and  all  is  lost. 
Faith  has  disappeared.  The  world  has  grown  old 
and  must  soon  cease  altogether." 

As  the   debasement  of  the  church  could  go  no 


46  The  Papal  Policy. 

lower,  a  reaction  was  natural  and  inevitable,  if  virtue 
was  not  altogether  decayed  at  the  roots.  The  senti- 
ment of  human  decency  reasserted  itself,  and,  since 
there  was  no  power  at  Rome  to  inaugurate  reform, 
an  appeal  was  made  to  the  German  emperor.  Henry 
III.,  in  response  to  the  call,  deposed  by  force  three 
rival  claimants  to  the  papal  throne,  and  secured  the 
ascendency  of  a  line  of  German  popes.  It  was  not 
without  the  suspicion  of  poison  that  two  of  them  died 
after  brief  power:  Clement  II.  within  the  year,  and 
Damasus  II.  in  twenty-three  days. 

With  Leo  IX.  (1049)  came  a  better  era.  The 
year  1033,  the  ultimate  date  set  by  the  prophecy- 
mongers  for  the  end  of  the  world,  being  clearly  past, 
and  men  becoming  again  possessed  of  hope  in  the 
continuance  of  mundane  affairs,  the  best  spirits  dared 
to  labor  for  the  renovation  of  society,  that  the  earth 
thus  saved  as  by  fire  might  become  indeed  "  a  new 
earth,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness." 

From  this  time  the  commanding  genius  and  pure 
purpose  of  Hildebrand  guided,  if  he  did  not  select, 
the  occupants  of  the  seat  of  St.  Peter,  until,  in  1073, 
the  great  counsellor  himself  assumed  the  sacred 
sceptre.  History,  while  it  severely  condemns  the 
methods  by  which  Hildebrand  sought  to  attain  his 
ends,  credits  him  with  rigid  honesty  and  devotion  to 
what  he  believed  to  be  the  will  of  Heaven.  While  it 
writes  into  his  epitaph  the  charge  of  most  inordinate 
ambition,  it  does  not  erase  from  it  the  record  of  his 
utterance  as  he  lay  dying,  a  fugitive  at  Salerno :  "  I 
have  loved  righteousness  and  hated  iniquity ;  there- 
fore I  die  in  exile." 


Hildcb rand's  Plan  of  Reform.  47 

The  religious  degradation  of  Christendom  afflicted 
the  soul  of  this  truly  great  man;  but  whence  could 
come  reform  ?  Ihe  age  was  too  far  gone  in  its  de- 
moralization to  wait  for  recuperation  through  the  slow 
process  of  education.  Society  could  not  endure  an- 
other generation  of  its  own  putridity.  The  secular 
powers  were  utterly  impotent  to  cope  with  the  gi- 
gantic evils  that  were  abroad  in  every  land.  Even 
had  they  possessed  the  disposition  to  champion  the 
virtues,  such  sovereigns  as  the  King  of  France,  the 
Emperor  of  Germany,  the  new  Norman  King  of 
England,  were  altogether  engrossed  in  holding  their 
precarious  crowns,  surrounded  as  they  were  by  a 
multitude  of  feudal  lords,  some  of  whom  could  collect 
in  their  own  names  a  larger  force  than  that  which 
would  rise  to  defend  the  throne. 

To  Hildebrand  but  one  course  seemed  open,  a 
desperate  one,  whose  hazard  showed  the  audacity  of 
the  genius  that  conceived  it.  It  was  nothing  less  than 
to  declare  the  Papacy  a  world  monarchy,  and  to  force 
universal  reform  by  the  combined  power  of  the  secular 
and  spiritual  sceptre  held  in  his  own  hand.  In  his 
bull  against  the  Emperor  Henry  IV.  he  used  these 
words :  "  Come  now,  I  pray  thee,  O  most  holy 
Father,  and  ye  princes  [St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul],  that 
all  the  world  may  know  that  if  ye  are  able  to  bind 
and  loose  in  heaven,  ye  are  able  on  earth  to  take 
away,  or  to  give  to  each  according  to  his  merits,  em- 
pires, kingdoms,  duchies,  marquisates,  counties,  and 
the  possessions  of  all  men.  ...  If  ye  judge  in  spir- 
itual aflfairs,  how  great  must  be  your  power  in  secu- 
lar!   and  if  ye  are  to  judge  angels,  who  rule  over 


48  The  Papal  Policy. 

proud  princes,  what  may  ye  not  do  to  these  their  ser- 
vants !  Let  kings,  then,  and  all  the  princes  of  the  world 
learn  what  ye  are  and  how  great  is  your  power,  and 
fear  to  treat  with  disrespect  the  mandates  of  the  church. " 

To  practicalize  this  enormous  claim,  the  Pope  made 
two  demands,  which  threw  Europe  into  a  state  of 
turmoil,  (i)  He  ordered  the  renunciation  of  all  in- 
vestitures of  religious  office  by  secular  potentates. 
The  clergy  held  of  the  empire  cities,  duchies,  entire 
provinces,  rights  of  levying  taxes,  coinage,  etc., 
amounting  to  one  half  of  all  property.  The  sees  thus 
held  Hildebrand  declared  to  be  vacated  until  their  oc- 
cupants should  again  receive  them  from  his  hand  under 
pledge  of  absolute  obedience  to  the  papal,  as  opposed 
to  the  imperial,  authority.  By  this  stroke  the  Pope 
would  gather  to  himself  the  practical  control  of  all 
countries.  (2)  Hildebrand  forbade  the  marriage  of 
the  clergy — a  custom  wide-spread  at  the  time — and 
commanded  those  who  had  entered  into  matrimony, 
however  innocently  and  legally,  to  forsake  their  wives, 
as  having  been  but  concubines,  and  their  children, 
since  logically  they  were  but  bastards.  By  enforcing 
the  celibacy  of  the  clergy,  he  would  have  at  his  call  an 
army  of  men  without  domestic  ties,  care,  or  encum- 
brance, and,  so  far  as  possible  to  human  nature, 
divested  of  individuality,  and  thus  the  pliant  agents 
of  his  single  will. 

The  audacity  of  Hildebrand's  scheme  will  be  noted 
by  comparing  it  with  the  attitude  of  the  most  devoted 
adherents  to  the  papal  authority  previous  to  his  time. 

The  capitularies  of  Charlemagne  contain  many  rules 
for  the  regulation  of  religious  duties.     The  emperor 


Previous  Prestige  of  the  Papacy.         49 


himself  (794)  presided  at  the  Synod  of  Frankfort, 
though  a  papal  legate  was  in  attendance.  While  he 
brought  the  church  all  possible  help  as  an  ally,  and 
yielded  to  it  all  obedience  as  a  private  Christian,  he 
never  allowed  his  imperial  authority  to  be  under  so 
much  as  the  shadow  of  control  by  the  papal.  He 
suffered  but  one  religion  in  his  domains,  that  which 
had  the  Pope  for  its  chief  administrator;  but  he  held 
with  equal  strenuousness  that  the  emperor  was  the 
vicar  of  God  in  things  temporal. 

From  964  to  1055  the  popes  iiad  been  the  direct 
nominees  of  the  emperor.  In  1059  the  papal  election 
devolved  for  the  first  time  upon  the  conclave  of  car- 
dinals;  but  the  Lateran  Council  decreed  that  the 
imperial  confirmation  must  follow.  Though  in  1061 
Alexander  II.  was  chosen  without  imperial  sanction, 
yet  in  1073  Hildebrand  himself,  becoming  Pope  as 
Gregory  VII.,  did  not  venture  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  the  office  without  first  asking  and  obtaining  the 
emperor's  assent. 

But  this  outward  deference  to  the  secular  power 
was  only  that  he  might  grasp  more  securely  the 
weapon  with  which  he  would  beat  that  power  to 
pieces.  When  the  Emperor  Henry  IV.  resented  the 
sweeping  claim  of  the  Pope,  Hildebrand  launched 
against  him  all  the  terrors  of  the  pontifical  throne. 
His  bull  reads  as  follows :  "  Henry  and  all  of  his  ad- 
herents I  excommunicate  and  bind  in  the  fetters  of 
anathema ;  on  the  part  of  almighty  God,  I  interdict 
him  from  the  government  of  all  Germany  and  Italy ; 
I  deprive  him  of  all  royal  power  and  dignity ;  I  pro- 
hibit every  Christian  from  rendering  him  obedience 


50  The  Papal  Policy. 

as  king ;  I  absolve  all  who  have  sworn  or  shall  swear 
allegiance  to  his  sovereignty  from  their  oaths." 

(For  the  details  of  this  controversy  and  the  general 
history  of  Hildebrand,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the 
previous  volume  in  this  series,  Vincent's  "  Age  of 
Hildebrand.") 

This  policy  of  the  Papacy  to  make  itself  the  world 
monarchy  had  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  crusades 
and  facilitated  the  enterprise.  The  astute  mind  of 
Hildebrand  saw  that  a  movement  which  should  com- 
bine the  Catholics  of  all  countries  in  Europe  under 
his  command  would  immensely  augment  his  prestige 
as  their  great  overlord.  During  his  pontificate  there 
opportunely  arrived  at  Rome  messengers  from  the 
Greek  emperor  at  Constantinople,  beseeching  the  aid 
of  Western  Christendom  in  expelling  the  Turks,  who 
were  menacing  the  capital  of  the  East.  Hildebrand, 
consistently  with  his  policy,  prescribed  as  the  condi- 
tion of  such  aid  the  recognition  on  the  part  of  the 
Greek  Church  of  the  headship  of  the  Roman  pontiff. 
But  in  this  demand  he  overshot  the  mark,  while  at  the 
same  time  the  apathy  of  the  Latin  Christians  towards 
their  Greek  brethren,  and  his  own  controversy  with 
the  German  emperor,  left  him  no  opportunity  to 
launch  the  movement.  It  was  left  to  Urban  H.,  his 
second  successor  in  the  pontificate,  to  undertake  the 
great  adventure.  As  Dean  Milman  remarks,  "  No 
event  could  be  more  favorable  or  more  opportune  for 
the  advancement  of  the  great  papal  object  of  ambition, 
the  acknowledged  supremacy  over  Latin  Christendom, 
orfor  the  elevation  of  Urban  himself  over  the  rival  Pope 
[Guibert]  and  the  temporal  sovereign,  his  enemies." 


CHAPTER  Vir. 

THE   MOHAMMEDAN    MENACE — THE    RISE   OF 
ISLAM — SARACENS — TURKS. 

ME  rapid  rise  and  wide-spread  conquest  of 
Mohammedanism  make  one  of  the  most 
startHng  phenomena  of  history.  If  its 
story  excites  our  wonder  in  these  days, 
while  we  are  watching  its  decadence,  we 
may  imagine  the  consternation  wrought  when  its 
swarming  hosts,  with  the  prestige  of  having  conquered 
all  western  Asia,  were  breaking  through  the  barriers 
of  Christendom. 

We  shall  greatly  mistake  this  movement  if  we  re- 
gard it  as  a  mere  irruption  of  brute  force  such  as 
characterized  the  assaults  of  the  barbarians  upon  the 
Roman  empire.  The  teachings  of  Mohammed,  gross 
as  they  appear  in  contrast  with  either  primitive  or 
modern  Christianity,  contained  elements  which  ap- 
pealed to  far  nobler  sentiments  than  those  entertained 
by  the  pagans  of  northern  Europe,  or  those  current 
in  the  age  of  the  Prophet  among  the  people  of  his 
own  race.  Compared  with  these,  Islamism  was  a 
reformation,  and  enthused  its  adherents  with  the  be- 
lief that  they  fought  for  the  advancement  of  civiliza- 
tion as  well  as  for  the  rewards  of  paradise. 

51 


52  The  Mohammedan  Menace. 

The  central  thought  of  Islamism  is  the  unity  of  the 
Godhead,  and  its  first  victory  was  the  obhteration  of 
polytheism  among  the  tribes  of  Arabia. 

It  is  true  that,  before  the  time  of  Mohammed,  Allah 
had  been  accorded  the  first  place  in  the  speculative 
theology  of  the  Arabs;  yet  gods  many  usurped  their 
worship  and  were  supposed  to  control  their  daily 
lives.  Wise  men,  called  hanifs,  had  protested  against 
the  prevailing  superstition,  and  succeeded  in  spread- 
ing a  healthful  scepticism  regarding  the  lesser  divini- 
ties. Mohammed  eagerly  imbibed  the  better  philos- 
ophy. Familiarity  with  the  religion  of  the  Jews,  and 
some  acquaintance  with  the  doctrine  of  Jesus,  whom 
he  accepted  as  a  true  prophet,  doubtless  gave  shape 
and  vividness  to  his  better  faith.  His  meditations  on 
the  grand  themes  of  religion  were,  to  his  excited  ima- 
gination, rewarded  by  definite  revelation.  He  rose 
inspired  with  the  conviction, — which  became  the  call 
for  a  new  civilization  in  the  Orient, — "  Great  is  God, 
and  Mohammed  is  His  prophet!"  Islam,  or  resigna- 
tion to  the  sovereign  will  of  Allah,  became  the  title 
and  spirit  of  the  new  religion. 

But  if  a  celestial  ray  had  touched  and  stimulated 
the  mind  of  Mohammed,  no  heavenly  influence  re- 
fined his  heart  and  conscience.  Sensuality  and  cruelty, 
racial  qualities  of  the  Arab,  were  not  only  unrestrained, 
but  utilized  as  agencies  for  the  spread  of  the  faith. 
Ferocity  wielded  the  sword,  and  its  fury  was  to  be 
rewarded  by  the  gratification  of  lust  in  a  paradise 
whose  description  surpassed  the  sensuous  fancies  of 
pagan  poets  and  romancers.  The  spirit  of  the  new 
propaganda  is   evinced  in   this   sentence   from   the 


The  Doctrine  of  Islam.  53 


Koran :  "  The  sword  is  the  key  of  heaven  and  hell ; 
a  drop  of  blood  shed  in  the  cause  of  Allah,  a  night 
spent  in  arms,  is  of  more  avail  than  two  months  of 
fasting  and  prayer ;  whoever  falls  in  battle,  his  sins 
are  forgiven,  and  at  the  day  of  judgment  his  limbs 
shall  be  supplied  with  the  wings  of  angels  and  cheru- 
bim." 

It  might  seem  that  the  Christian  would  be  spared 
the  vengeance  of  Mohammed,  since  he  also  taught  the 
unity  of  the  Godhead ;  but  the  A  rabian  misunder- 
stood Christianity.  To  him  the  Trinity  was  essential 
polytheism.  It  must  be  confessed  that  such  Chris- 
tianity as  the  Arab  saw  very  naturally  suggested  that 
false  interpretation  of  the  Bible  doctrine.  In  some 
Eastern  Christian  sects  Mariolatry  had  exalted  the 
mother  of  Jesus  to  the  third  place  in  the  Trinity,  in 
horrid  usurpation  of  the  office  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
The  Koran  expressly  condemns  the  triform  worship 
of  Jehovah,  Jesus,  and  Mary.  The  Prophet,  while 
denying  the  divinity  of  Christ,  regarded  himself  as 
an  avenger  of  Jesus,  the  holy  man,  against  the  heresy 
of  his  professed  followers.  Mohammed's  last  utter- 
ance is  reported  to  have  been,  "  The  Lord  destroy 
the  Jews  and  Christians!  Let  His  anger  be  kindled 
against  all  those  that  turn  the  tombs  of  their  prophets 
into  places  of  worship!      Eternity  in  paradise!" 

Not  only  was  the  doctrine  of  the  Koran  acceptable 
to  the  people  to  whom  it  was  delivered ;  the  organi- 
zation of  the  Mohammedan  system  provided  an  ef- 
ficient agency  for  its  development  and  propagandism. 

This  organization  was  exceedingly  simple.  It  had 
but  one  code  for  things  religious  and  things  secular. 


54  ^^^  Mohammedan  Menace. 

The  Koran  was  at  once  the  confession  of  faith  and 
the  national  constitution.  From  the  same  pages  the 
priest  preached  eternal  life,  caliph,  emir,  and  sheik 
quoted  the  rules  of  government,  the  judge  drew  his 
decision  in  controversies,  the  soldier  read  his  reward 
for  valor  and  death  on  the  field,  and  merchant  and 
peasant  found  the  regulations  for  their  daily  traffic. 
The  one  book  destroyed  the  distinction  between  sa- 
cred and  profane,  since  everything  became  thereby 
religious,  while  the  duties  and  amenities  of  common 
life  were  surcharged  with  the  bigotry  of  devoteeism. 

The  unity  of  Moslemism  under  the  book  was 
further  intensified  by  the  sole  headship  of  the  Prophet 
and  his  successors.  The  fondest  dream  of  the  popes 
of  Rome,  to  blend  spiritual  and  secular  authority,  was 
surpassed  by  the  throne  which  actually  arose  in  the 
Arabian  desert.  The  opinion  of  the  caliph  was  the 
final  decision  of  all  questions  of  dogma ;  ministers  of 
state  were  his  personal  commissioners,  and  over  them, 
as  over  the  humblest  subject,  he  exercised  the  power 
of  life  and  death.  One  will  was  sovereign,  respon- 
sible to  none  other,  and  actuated  all  things  in  church 
and  state.  One  man's  word  rallied  tribes  and  sects, 
and  hurled  them  en  masse  upon  his  enemies,  or  in 
more  peaceful  ways  directed  their  seeming  diversities 
to  the  accomplishment  of  a  single  purpose. 

It  must  be  acknowledged,  however,  that,  while  the 
Mohammedan  system  thus  adapted  it  to  the  most 
deadly  tyranny  over  thought  and  life,  it  was  not 
always  so  wielded.  The  cause  was  advanced  by  the 
sagacity,  if  not  the  more  humane  inclinations,  of 
many  of  the  caliphs.    Not  a  few  of  these  were  among 


Koran  and  Caliphate.  55 

the  wisest  men  of  their  day,  and  adopted  a  policy  of 
leniency  in  dealing  with  their  submissive  enemies, 
which  facilitated  the  extension  of  their  rule.  The 
repetition  of  a  single  sentence,  acknowledging  the 
unity  of  God  and  the  supremacy  of  the  Prophet, 
transformed  foe  into  friend.  In  many  instances  the 
tribute  paid  to  the  conqueror  was  far  less  than  that 
which  the  former  Christian  rulers  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  exacting.  Though,  as  a  rule,  Christian 
churches  were  ruthlessly  despoiled  of  their  symbolic 
ornaments  and  reduced  to  the  barren  simplicity  of 
the  mosque,  yet  they  were  frequently  spared  this 
sacrilege.  When  Jerusalem  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Omar,  the  Christians  w^ere  forbidden  to  call  to  wor- 
ship by  the  sound  of  bell,  to  parade  the  streets  in 
religious  procession,  to  distinguish  their  sect  by  badge 
or  dress,  and  were  compelled  to  give  up  the  temple 
site  for  the  mosque  of  Omar ;  yet  they  were  allowed 
freely  to  worship  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
the  caliph  himself  refusing  to  appear  within  those 
sacred  precincts,  saying,  "  Had  I  done  so,  future 
Mussulmans  would  infringe  the  treaty  under  cover  of 
imitating  my  example."  Haroun-al-Raschid,  in  ex- 
changing courtesies  with  Charlemagne,  presented  him 
with  the  keys  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 

To  this  compact  unity  of  Mohammedanism  under 
Koran  and  caliph,  and  this  wise  blending  of  the  ter- 
ror of  arms  with  peaceful  patronage,  was  due  the 
unparalleled  progress  of  the  religion  of  the  Prophet. 
The  Moslem  conquests  will  appear  in  the  story,  first 
of  the  Saracen,  and  later  that  of  the  Turk. 

TJic  Saracens. — Durine  Mohammed's  lifetime  Ara- 


56  The  Mohammedan  Menace. 

bia  and  Syria  were  beneath  his  hand.  Within  eight 
years  following,  Persia,  parts  of  Asia  Minor,  Palestine, 
and  Egypt  submitted  to  him.  Thirteen  years  more 
(653)  saw  the  cimeter  of  the  Saracens  enclosing  an  area 
as  large  as  the  Roman  empire  under  the  Caesars.  In 
668  they  assaulted  Constantinople.  In  707  North 
Africa  surrendered  the  treasures  of  its  entire  coast 
from  the  Nile  to  the  Atlantic,  and  the  home  of  Au- 
gustine, the  father  of  Christian  orthodoxy,  was  oc- 
cupied by  the  Infidels.  In  711  the  Saracen  general 
Tarik  crossed  the  straits  between  the  Mediterranean 
and  Atlantic,  and  landed  on  the  rock  which  has  ever 
since  borne  his  name  —  Jebel-Tarik,  the  "hill  of 
Tarik,"  or  Gibraltar.  By  717  Spain,  from  the  Medi- 
terranean to  the  Pyrenees,  had  become  the  proud 
conquest  of  the  Moors.  But  for  the  timely  victory 
of  Charles  Martel  at  Tours,  in  732,  they  had  surely 
subdued  France  and  soon  completed  the  circle  of 
conquest  by  the  desolation  of  Italy,  Germany,  and 
the  lands  bordering  the  Balkans.  In  847  the  Sara- 
cens were  masters  of  Sicily,  and  besieged  Rome  itself, 
plundering  the  suburban  churches  of  St.  Peter  and 
St.  Paul.  Thirty  years  later  Pope  John  VIII.  wrote 
to  Charles  the  Bold :  "  If  all  the  trees  in  the  forests 
were  turned  into  tongues,  they  could  not  describe 
the  ravages  of  these  impious  pagans ;  the  devout 
people  of  God  is  destroyed  by  a  continual  slaughter; 
he  who  escapes  the  fire  and  the  sword  is  carried  as 
a  captive  into  exile.  Cities,  castles,  and  villages  are 
utterly  wasted  and  without  an  inhabitant.  The 
Hagarenes  [sons  of  fornication  and  wrath]  have 
crossed  the  Tiber."     In   916   these  persistent  foes 


Rapid  Conquest  by  the  Saracens.         57 

occupied  a  fortress  on  the  Gangliano,  between  Naples 
and  Rome,  whence  they  held  the  papal  domain  at 
their  mercy,  and  seizing  the  persons  of  pilgrims  on 
their  way  to  the  shrine  of  the  apostles,  held  them  for 
heavy  ransom.  This  stronghold  was  broken  up  only 
by  the  attack  of  a  powerful  confederacy  of  Italian 
dukes,  aided  by  the  emperors  of  the  East  and  \\^est. 
The  exigency  was  so  great  that,  in  the  estimate  of 
papal  apologists,  it  warranted  the  action  of  Pope 
John  X.,  who  arrayed  himself  in  carnal  armor  and 
rode  at  the  head  of  the  attacking  forces. 

In  1016  a  powerful  armament  of  Saracens  was 
landed  at  Luna  in  the  territory  of  Pisa,  but  defeated 
by  Pope  Benedict  VIII.  This  disaster  did  not  di- 
minish either  the  hauteur  or  expectancy  of  the  in- 
vader, who  sent  to  the  Pope  a  huge  bag  of  chestnuts 
with  the  message,  "  I  will  return  with  as  many  valiant 
Saracens  to  the  conquest  of  Italy."  The  Pope  was 
not  to  be  outdone  in  prowess  of  speech,  and  returned 
a  bag  of  millet  with  the  boast,  "  As  many  brave  war- 
riors as  there  are  grains  will  appear  at  my  bidding  to 
defend  their  native  land." 

In  1058  there  occurred  a  wild  outburst  of  Moslem 
bigotry,  which  sent  a  thrill  of  horror  through  Christian 
Europe.  The  charity  of  earlier  rulers  of  Palestine 
towards  Christian  worshippers  gave  place  to  fiercest 
persecution  by  Mad  Ilakem,  the  Sultan  of  Egypt, 
who  razed  to  the  ground  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  and  slaughtered  its  devotees.  He  ulti- 
mately, however,  commuted  his  rage  into  cupidity, 
and  affixed  a  tax  upon  the  worshippers.  At  the  close 
of  the  eleventh  century,  the  time  of  the   first  cru- 


58  The  Mohammedan  Menace. 

sade,  the  Saracenic  power,  though  steadily  receding 
before  the  Christians,  still  menaced  southern  Europe. 
Trained  bands  of  Moslems,  when  not  in  war  on  their 
own  account  with  their  common  enemy,  the  Chris- 
tians, joined  themselves  with  one  or  another  of  the 
contending  parties  which  rent  the  empire  and  the 
church.  Thus  in  1085,  ten  years  before  the  first 
crusade,  Pope  Gregory  rescued  Rome  from  the  hands 
of  his  imperial  opponent,  Henry  of  Germany,  only 
with  the  assistance  of  Saracen  soldiers,  who  thronged 
the  ranks  of  the  Pope's  Norman  allies.  Very  natu- 
rally the  joy  of  the  papal  victory  was  mingled  with 
jealousy  of  the  means  by  which  it  had  been  accom- 
plished. 

Not  only  were  Moslem  warriors  often  found  in 
Christian  ranks  ;  frequently  the  valor  of  the  Christian 
knight  found  freest  exploit  in  the  cause  of  the  Moors. 
The  adventures  of  the  Cid,  whom  Philip  II.  wished 
Rome  to  canonize  as  an  ideal  saint,  were  for  eight 
years  performed  in  the  service  of  the  Arab  king  of 
Saragossa. 

The  Moslem  became  also  the  rival  of  the  Christian 
in  commerce.  The  ships  which  in  the  lull  of  hostili- 
ties sailed  from  the  ports  of  France  and  Italy  met  the 
richly  laden  vessels  of  Egypt  and  Spain  in  exhausting 
competition  for  the  trade  of  the  Mediterranean.  The 
coast  of  North  Africa  was  the  lurking-place  of  pirates, 
who  darted  over  the  Great  Sea  with  the  celerity  of 
spiders  along  their  web,  and  seized  every  craft  that 
weakness  or  misfortune  made  their  prey.  With  his 
wealth  the  Moslem  often  won  his  way  to  social  posi- 
tion, and  even  invaded  the  family   relations  of  his 


Saracens  among  Christians.  59 


Christian  neighbor.  Shakespeare's  Othello,  the  Moor 
of  Venice,  if  not  a  real  character,  was  at  least  one 
typical  not  only  of  tiie  fifteenth,  but  of  earlier  cen- 
turies. The  plot  of  this  play  was  borrowed  by  the 
English  dramatist  from  the  Venetian  romances.  More 
than  one  Desdemona  had  braved  the  curses  of  her 
Christian  kindred  for  the  fascinations  of  the  Infidel ; 
many  a  renegade  lago  was  found  in  his  service ;  and 
often  the  Christian  dignitary,  like  Brabantis,  was  led  by 
gold  and  political  advantage  to  assent  that  his  daughter 
should 

"  run  from  her  guardage  to  the  sooty  bosom  " 

of  the  Moor. 

Yet  these  misalliances  did  not  destroy  the  common 
sentiment  of  the  Christians  against  the  Saracens.  The 
foul  sensuality  allowed  by  the  Koran  as  it  thus  touched 
the  homes  of  Europe  deepened  the  racial  antipathy 
of  the  people  who  were  still  monogamic  in  their  faith 
and  customs. 

The  Mohammedan  menace  was  further  augmented 
in  the  superstitious  notions  of  the  age  by  the  intel- 
lectual ascendency  of  the  Saracens.  Christendom 
did  not  discern  that,  in  the  mass  of  evils  brought  upon 
Europe  by  the  invasions  from  the  East,  there  were 
the  germs  of  its  own  quickening,  as  the  freshets  of 
the  Nile  enrich  the  land  of  Egypt.  If,  in  the  first 
heat  of  his  zealotry,  the  Saracen  destroyed  the  library 
of  Alexandria,  regarding  the  Koran  as  compensation 
for  all  the  books  of  Christian  and  pagan  wisdom,  yet 
in  the  light  of  the  flames  he  saw  his  mistake,  and  be- 
came the  most  liberal  patron  of  education.  To  the 
mosque   he   added   the   school.     While   the  rest  of 


6o  The  Moha77tmedan  Menace. 

Europe  was  in  the  density  of  the  Dark  Ages,  the 
Moorish  universities  of  Spain  were  the  beacons  of  the 
revival  of  learning.  The  Christian  teacher  was  still 
manipulating  the  bones  of  the  saints  when  the  Arab 
physician  was  making  a  materia  medica  and  practis- 
ing surgery.  By  the  discovery  of  strong  acids  the 
Moor  laid  the  basis  of  the  science  of  chemistry;  by 
the  adoption  of  the  Hindu  numerals  he  improved 
arithmetic.  He  first  practically  used,  if  he  did  not 
invent,  algebra ;  introduced  astronomy  to  the  Euro- 
pean student;  wrote  on  optics,  the  weight  and  height 
of  the  atmosphere,  gravity,  capillary  attraction;  ap- 
plied the  pendulum  to  the  measurement  of  time,  and 
guessed  that  the  earth  was  round.  In  the  supersti- 
tion of  Christian  Europe  these  studies  were  regarded, 
if  not  as  belonging  to  the  magic  arts,  at  least  as 
threatening  the  faith  by  fostering  undue  independence 
of  thought,  and  tempting  to  scepticism  regarding  the 
office  of  the  church  as  universal  teacher.  The  sub- 
sequent persecution  of  Galileo  and  Bruno  was  antici- 
pated in  the  hatred  and  fear  which  were  awakened 
by  such  names  as  Ben-Musa  (ninth  century),  Avi- 
cenna  (tenth century),  Alhazan  and  Algazzali  (eleventh 
century).  The  diverse  spirits  of  the  age  are  illus- 
trated by  the  Giralda,  the  tower  of  Seville,  which 
was  built  by  the  Moors  for  an  observatory,  but  on 
the  Catholic  conquest  was  used  only  for  a  belfry. 

The  Turks. — The  Saracenic  conquests  caused  only  a 
part  of  the  Mohammedan  menace  in  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury. A  new  power  appeared,  which  has  since  domi- 
nated the  middle  Orient.  For  generations  the  Turks, 
or  Tartars,  had  been  steadily  pressing  southward  and 


The  Turks.  6i 

westward,  from  Turkestan  and  the  borders  of  China 
towards  the  fertile  plains  and  rich  cities  of  the  east- 
ern Roman  empire.  Of  nomadic  habits,  their  entire 
property  was  in  their  camps  and  the  driven  herds 
that  sustained  them.  They  were  skilled  horsemen, 
cradled  in  the  saddle,  tireless  on  the  march,  loving 
the  swift  foray  better  than  luxurious  residence,  inured 
to  danger,  and  careless  of  blood.  In  the  course  of 
their  migrations  they  came  in  contact  with  the  fol- 
lowers of  Mohammed.  The  Koran,  with  its  celestial 
indorsement  of  sensuality,  easily  captivated  in  such 
a  people  that  demand  of  common  human  nature  for 
some  religious  faith  and  pursuit.  They  became  the 
most  enthusiastic  devotees  of  the  new  faith,  although 
in  their  deeper  passion  for  selfish  conquest  they  often 
slaughtered  their  fellow-religionists  of  other  races. 

Early  in  the  eleventh  century  one  division  of  this 
people — the  Seljukian  Turks,  so  named  from  their 
great  chieftain,  Seljuk — overran  Armenia  and  con- 
quered Persia.  Togrul-Beg,  the  grandson  of  Seljuk, 
had  been  elected  to  the  chieftaincy  according  to  the 
ancient  custom,  the  chance  drawing,  by  the  hand  of 
a  child,  of  an  arrow  inscribed  with  his  name.  He  was 
further  honored  by  being  chosen  a  temporal  vicar  of 
the  caliph  of  Bagdad,  then  the  chief  of  Arabic  Mo- 
hammedanism. In  1055  Togrul-Beg  was  proclaimed 
"  Commander  of  the  Faithful  and  Protector  of  Mus- 
sulmans." He  was  clothed  in  the  seven  robes  of 
honor,  was  presented  with  seven  slaves  born  in  the 
seven  climates  of  Araby  the  Blest,  was  crowned  with 
two  crowns  and  girded  with  two  cimeters,  emblematic 
of  dominion  over  both  the  West  and  the  East. 


62  The  Mohammedan  Menace. 

The  successor  of  Togrul-Beg  was  Alp-Arslan,  the 
"  strong  lion  "  (1063).  He  merited  his  title  when,  hke 
a  wild  beast,  he  ravaged  Armenia  and  Iberia,  and 
then  sprang  upon  Asia  Minor.  At  the  time,  this 
peninsula  between  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Euxine 
was  flourishing  with  proud  cities  and  proHfic  fields, 
and  occupied  by  an  industrious,  peace-loving  popu- 
lation. The  ruined  amphitheatre  and  aqueduct  which 
to-day  oppress  the  curiosity  of  the  traveller  are  the 
footprints  of  this  Turkish  invader,  which  the  misgov- 
ernment  of  his  successors  has  not  permitted  to  be 
effaced.  In  the  battle  of  Manzikert  (1071)  Alp- 
Arslan  defeated  and  captured  Romanus  IV.,  the 
Greek  emperor,  and  thus  broke  the  only  Eastern 
power  that  could  dispute  his  sway.  Finlay  remarks  : 
"  History  records  few  periods  in  which  so  large  a 
portion  of  the  human  race  was  in  so  short  a  time  re- 
duced from  an  industrious  and  flourishing  condition 
to  degradation  and  serfage." 

Under  Malek-Shah,  son  of  Alp-Arslan  (1073),  the 
Turkish  power,  swollen  by  new  hordes  from  the  great 
central  plains  of  Asia,  occupied  almost  the  entire  ter- 
ritory now  known  as  Turkey  in  Asia.  They  pressed 
to  the  walls  of  Constantinople.  By  threatening,  and 
by  intrigue  with  every  insurgent  against  the  throne, 
they  kept  the  Greek  empire  in  constant  alarm. 

In  their  peril  the  Greeks  appealed  for  help  to  their 
Christian  brethren  of  Europe.  In  spite  of  the  scorn 
in  which  the  Latins  held  the  Greek  Church  for  its 
antipapal  heresies,  the  common  danger  led  Pope 
Gregory  VII.  (Hildebrand)  in  1074  to  summon  all 
Christian  potentates  to  repel  the  Turks.     He  himself 


Cojiquest  by  the  Turks.  63 

proposed  to  lead  the  avenging  hosts,  but  was  diverted 
from  this  generous  purpose  by  the  nearer  ambition  of 
crushing  the  enemies  of  the  papal  throne  at  home. 

In  1079  the  Emperor  Michael  saved  his  crown 
only  by  the  assistance  of  the  Turks  against  his  Greek 
rival,  for  which  aid  he  paid  by  surrendering  to  Soly- 
man  the  government  of  the  best  part  of  the  empire 
east  of  the  Bosporus. 

In  1093  Europe  was  startled  by  the  news  of  the  fall 
of  Jerusalem.  After  incredible  slaughter,  not  only  of 
Christians,  but  of  Arabic  Moslems  as  well,  the  black  flag 
of  Ortuk  floated  from  the  tower  of  David.  All  privi- 
leges which  had  been  granted  to  followers  of  Jesus  by 
the  comparative  humanity  of  the  Arab  were  now  with- 
drawn by  the  Turk.  To  bow  in  worship  at  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  was  to  bend  the  neck  beneath  the  cimeter. 

Europe  was  thrown  into  a  state  of  terrorism.  M.:"j- 
lem  irruption  into  the  West  seemed  imminent.  Kings 
trembled  on  their  thrones,  and  peasant  mothers  hushed 
their  crying  babes  with  stories  which  transformed 
every  spectre  into  the  shape  of  the  turbaned  invader. 

In  1093,  on  the  death  of  Malek-Shah,  the  Turkish 
power  was  weakened  by  divisions ;  this  gave  Chris- 
tendom heart.  The  statesmen  at  the  Vatican  saw  the 
opportunity,  and  Pope  Urban's  appeal  for  the  cru- 
sades met  the  quick  response  both  of  the  powers  and 
the  people.  One  of  the  divisions  of  Malek-Shah's 
empire  was  that  of  Solyman,  Sultan  of  Roum,  or 
Iconium.  From  this  power  sprang  the  Ottomans, 
who  for  eight  hundred  years  have  held  an  unbroken 
dynasty,  and  for  four  hundred  years  have  occupied 
the  city  of  Constantine  for  their  capital. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

PILGRIMAGES — ORIGIN   AND    GROWTH   OF   THE 
CUSTOM — EXTENT. 

LD  Testament  religion  made  much  of  sa- 
cred places.  In  the  early  occupancy  of 
Palestine,  Hebron,  Bethel,  Shiloh,  and 
Shechem  were  the  resorts  of  the  faithful ; 
in  later  ages  Jerusalem  became  the  shrine 
"  whither  the  tribes  went  up  "  by  divine  command. 
For  this  localized  devotion  there  was  an  evident  reason 
in  the  purpose  of  Providence  to  localize  a  "  peculiar 
people  "  for  religious  training,  such  as  they  could  not 
obtain  if  scattered  among  the  nations.  The  sacred- 
ness  was  not  in  the  site,  but  in  its  living  associations, 
as  the  rendezvous  of  wise  and  holy  men.  Christianity 
had  no  such  necessity,  and  reversed  this  narrower 
pohcy  with  our  Lord's  command,  "  Go  ye  into  all 
the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 
Therefore,  in  the  ruling  of  Providence,  the  places 
most  closely  associated  with  the  life  of  the  Son  of 
God  were  either  unknown,  as  the  spot  of  the  tempta- 
tion in  the  wilderness  and  the  mountain  where  He  re- 
tired for  prayer ;  or  these  spots  were  left  unmarked  by 
the  first  disciples,  as  "a  high  mountain"  on  which  He 

64 


Rise  of  the  Ciisiotn  of  Pilgrimage.        65 

was  transfigured,  the  room  of  the  Last  Supper,  the  site 
of  the  crucifixion  and  of  the  tomb  which  witnessed 
His  resurrection.  This  was  a  commentary  of  Provi- 
dence on  Jesus'  words,  "  The  hour  cometh,  when  ye 
shall  neither  in  this  mountain,  nor  yet  at  Jerusalem, 
worship  the  Father;  .  .  .  when  the  true  worshippers 
shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 

This  relic  of  the  Jewish  custom,  together  with  the 
universal  pagan  practice  of  venerating  shrines  and 
consulting  local  oracles,  became  an  ever-pressing 
temptation  to  the  early  Christian  church.  It  was 
difficult  for  either  Jewish  or  heathen  converts  not  to 
regard  the  land  trodden  by  the  feet  of  Jesus  as  pe- 
culiarly a  holy  land,  and  not  to  imagine  that  the  celes- 
tial interest  that  once  centred  upon  the  scenes  of  His 
death  and  resurrection  made  "  heaven  always  to  hang 
lowest "  over  these  spots.  There  was  nothing  in  the 
teaching  or  practice  of  the  apostles  and  early  fathers 
of  the  church  to  suggest  or  approve  these  notions. 
They  were  willing  exiles  from  the  home  of  the  faith ; 
unlike  the  patriarch  Joseph,  they  gave  no  "  command- 
ment concerning  their  bones  "  being  interred  in  the 
dust  of  Palestine. 

The  conversion  of  Constantine  to  Christianity  may 
have  been  genuine,  but  it  did  not  completely  exorcise 
the  paganism  to  which  he  had  been  habituated.  The 
pilgrimage  of  his  mother,  Helena,  to  Palestine,  the 
alleged  reidentification  of  sacred  sites  and  reUcs  by 
miraculous  agencies,  and  their  adornment  with  lavish 
magnificence,  were  the  natural  efflorescence  of  the 
hybrid  religion  that  sprang  up.  Multitudes  imitated 
the  example  of  emperors  and  princes  in  the  show  of 


66  Pilgrimages. 

devotion.  The  new  glory  which  Constantine  gave 
to  Jerusalem  engaged  their  reverence,  as  his  new 
capital  on  the  Bosporus  gratified  their  pride. 

St.  Jerome  (345-420)  wrote  to  Paulinus :  "  The 
court  of  heaven  is  as  open  in  Britain  as  at  Jerusalem." 
Nevertheless  the  saint  took  up  his  abode  in  the  Church 
of  the  Nativity  at  Bethlehem.  Paula,  his  companion, 
wrote :  "  Here  the  foremost  of  the  world  are  gathered 
together."  St.  Augustine  (354-430),  oppressed  by 
the  fact  that  the  beauty  of  the  heavenly  city  was  shad- 
owed by  men's  reverence  for  the  earthly  Jerusalem, 
wrote:  "Take  no  thought  for  long  voyages;  it  is  not 
by  ship,  but  by  love,  that  we  go  to  Him  who  is  every- 
where." 

But  the  enthusiasm  for  pilgrimage  could  be  checked 
neither  by  the  voice  of  saint  nor  by  common  sense. 
From  the  depths  of  the  German  forests,  from  the 
banks  of  the  beixic  a..d  the  bleak  shores  of  Britain,  as 
well  as  from  the  cities  of  southern  Europe,  poured 
the  incessant  streams  of  humanity,  to  bathe  in  the 
waters  of  the  Jordan  where  their  Lord  was  baptized, 
or  perchance  to  die  at  the  tomb  which  witnessed  his 
resurrection. 

As  early  as  the  fourth  century  itineraries  were 
published  to  guide  the  feet  of  the  pious  across  the 
countries  of  Europe  and  Asia  Minor;  hospitals  were 
also  established  along  the  road,  the  support  of  which 
by  those  who  stayed  at  home  was  regarded  as  spe- 
cially meritorious  in  the  sight  of  Heaven. 

In  611  Chosroes  the  Persian  and  Zoroastrian  cap- 
tured Jerusalem,  slaughtered  ninety  thousand  Chris- 
tian residents  and  pilgrims,  and,  more  lamentable  in 


Pilgrim  Superstitions.  67 

the  estimate  of  that  age,  carried  off  the  wood  of  the 
true  cross.  But  licracHus,  the  Greek  emperor,  after 
a  ten  years'  war  triumphed  over  tlie  Persian  power. 
Neither  conquered  lands  nor  the  spoils  of  princely 
tents  compared  in  stirring  enthusiasm  with  the  recap- 
ture of  this  relic.  With  great  pomp  the  emperor  left  a 
part  of  the  cross  to  glorify  his  capital,  Constantinople. 
On  September  14,  629,  Heraclius  entered  Jerusalem, 
bearing,  Hke  Simon  the  Cyrenian,  tiic  remainder  of 
the  sacred  beams  upon  his  back.  With  bare  feet  and 
in  ragged  garments  he  traversed  the  city  and  re- 
erected  the  symbol  of  the  world's  faith  upon  the 
assumed  site  of  Calvary.  This  event  is  still  com- 
memorated throughout  the  Roman  Catholic  world  by 
the  annual  festival  of  the  "  exaltation  of  the  holy 
cross." 

Marvellous  stories,  the  innocent  exaggerations  of 
weak  minds  or  the  designed  invention  of  less  con- 
scionable  shrewdness,  fed  the  credulity  of  the  people. 
Bishop  Arculf  told  of  having  seen  the  three  taber- 
nacles still  standing  upon  the  Mount  of  Transfigura- 
tion. Bernard  of  Brittany  as  an  eye-witness  described 
the  angel  who  came  from  heaven  each  Easter  morn 
to  light  the  lamp  above  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 

At  the  opening  of  the  ninth  century  the  friendship 
of  Haroun-al-Raschid,  King  of  Persia,  for  Charle- 
magne extended  the  privileges  of  pilgrims.  The 
keys  of  the  sepulchre  of  Jesus  were  sent  by  him  as 
a  royal  gift  to  the  Emperor  of  the  West.  Charle- 
magne's capitularies  contain  references  to  "  alms  sent 
to  Jerusalem  to  repair  the  churches  of  God,"  and  to 
provide  lodging,  with  fire  and  water,  to  pilgrims  ^//rt^w/^. 


68  Pilgrimages. 

The  cruel  persecution  by  Mad  Hakem,  the  caliph 
of  Egypt  (see  p.  57),  made  scarcely  an  eddy  in  the 
current  of  humanity  moving  eastward.  Counts  and 
dukes  vied  with  prelates  in  the  multitude  of  their 
companions.  In  1054  the  Bishop  of  Cambray  started 
with  a  band  of  three  thousand  fellow-pilgrims.  In 
1064  the  Archbishop  of  Mayence  followed  with  ten 
thousand,  nearly  half  of  whom  perished  by  the  way. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  eleventh  century,  as  has 
been  related,  the  strong  hand  of  the  Turk  first  effec- 
tually checked  the  pilgrims.  The  horrors  of  the 
atrocities  perpetrated  by  this  new  Mohammedan 
power  afflicted  Europe  less  than  the  cessation  of  the 
popular  movement.  The  evil  was  twofold,  secular 
and  spiritual. 

Pilgrimage  was  often  a  lucrative  business  as  well 
as  a  pious  performance.  In  the  intervals  of  his  visits 
to  the  sacred  places  the  European  sojourner  plied  his 
calling  as  a  tradesman  ;  the  Franks  held  a  market  be- 
fore the  Church  of  St.  Mary;  the  Venetians,  Geno- 
ese, and  Pisans  had  stores  in  Jerusalem  and  the  c6ast 
cities  of  Phenicia.  The  courtiers  of  Europe  dressed 
in  the  rich  stuffs  sent  from  Asia,  and  drank  the  wine 
of  Gaza.  A  great  traffic  was  done  in  relics.  The 
pilgrim  returned  having  in  his  wallet  the  credited 
bones  of  mart3^rs,  bits  of  stone  from  sacred  sites, 
splinters  from  furniture  and  shreds  of  garments  made 
holy  by  association  with  the  saints.  These  were  sold 
to  the  wealthy  and  to  churches,  and  their  value  aug- 
mented from  year  to  year  by  reason  of  the  fables 
which  grew  about  them. 

In  more  generous  minds  the  passion  for  pilgrimage 


Ince?i  lives  to  Pilgrimage.  69 

was  fed  by  the  desire  for  increased  knowledge.  Travel 
was  the  only  compensation  for  the  lack  of  books.  One 
became  measurably  learned  by  visiting,  while  going 
to  and  returning  from  Palestine,  such  cities  as  Con- 
stantinople or  Alexandria,  to  say  nothing  of  the  en- 
lightening intercourse  with  one's  fellow- luiropeans 
while  passing  through  their  lands. 

Mere  love  of  change  and  adventure  also  led  many 
to  take  the  staff.  If  in  our  advanced  ci\ilization  men 
cannot  entirely  divest  themselves  of  the  nomadic 
habit,  but  tramp  and  tourist  are  everywhere,  we  need 
not  be  surprised  at  the  numbers  of  those  who  indulged 
this  passion  in  days  when  home  life  was  exceedingly 
monotonous  and  its  entertainment  as  meagre. 

But  the  chief  incentive  to  pilgrimage  was  doubtless 
the  supposed  merit  of  treading  the  very  footprints  of 
our  Lord.  Not  only  was  forgiveness  of  sins  secured 
by  kneeling  on  the  site  of  Calvary,  but  to  die  cii  route 
was  to  fall  in  the  open  gateway  of  heaven,  one's 
travel-soiled  shirt  becoming  a  shroud  which  would 
honor  the  hands  of  angels  convoying  the  redeemed 
soul  to  the  blissful  abodes.  Great  criminals  thus 
])enanced  their  crimes.  Frotmonde,  the  murderer, 
his  brow  marked  with  ashes  and  his  clothes  cut  after 
the  fashion  of  a  winding-sheet,  tramped  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem,  the  desert  of  Arabia,  and  homeward  along 
the  North  African  coast,  only  to  be  commanded  by 
Pope  Benedict  III.  to  repeat  his  penance  on  even  a 
larger  scale,  after  which  he  was  received  as  a  saint. 
Foulques  of  Anjou,  who  had  brought  his  brother  to 
death  in  a  dungeon,  found  that  three  such  journeys 
were  necessary  to  wear  away  the  guilt-mark  from  his 


yo  Pilgrimages. 

conscience.  Robert  of  Normandy,  the  father  of  Wil- 
liam the  Conqueror,  as  penance  for  crime  walked  bare- 
foot the  entire  distance,  accompanied  by  many  knights 
and  barons.  When  Cencius  assaulted  Pope  Hilde- 
brand,  the  pontiff  uttered  these  words  :  "  Thy  injuries 
against  myself  I  freely  pardon.  Thy  sins  against 
God,  against  His  mother,  His  apostles,  and  His  whole 
church,  must  be  expiated.  Go  on  a  pilgrimage  to 
Jerusalem." 

We  are  thus  prepared  to  appreciate  the  incentive 
to  the  crusades  which  men  of  all  classes  found  in  the 
speech  of  Pope  Urban  at  Clermont,  in  inaugurating 
the  movement :  "  Take  ye,  then,  the  road  to  Jerusalem 
for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  depart  assured  of  the 
imperishable  glory  which  awaits  you  in  the  kingdom 
of  heaven." 

Othman,  the  founder  of  the  Ottoman  dynasty  of 
Turks,  once  had  a  dream  in  which  he  saw  all  the 
leaves  of  the  world-shading  tree  shaped  like  cimeters 
and  turning  their  points  towards  Constantinople.  This 
he  interpreted  into  a  prophecy  and  command  for  the 
capture  of  that  city.  Similarly  we  may  conceive  the 
various  conditions  and  sentiments  of  Europe  in  the 
eleventh  century,  which  have  been  described  in  our 
previous  chapters,  as  directing  the  way  to  Jerusalem. 
Subsequent  events,  however,  prove  that,  unlike  Oth- 
man's  leaves,  the  Christian  incentives  to  the  crusades 
were  not  directed  by  the  breath  of  Heaven. 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  CRUSADES. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE   SUMMONS — PETER   THE    HERMIT — POPE 
URBAN — POPULAR    EXCITEMENT. 


T  has  been  customary  to  attribute  the 
actual  initiation  of  the  crusades  to  the 
fiery  eloquence  of  Peter  the  Hermit. 
This  man  was  a  native  of  Picardy,  and 
was  possessed  of  a  spirit  as  restless  as  the 
seas  that  washed  the  shores  of  that  northern  province 
of  France.  He  at  one  time  seems  to  have  followed 
the  life  of  a  soldier,  but  his  ardent  mind  demanded 
higher  entertainment  than  the  gossip  of  camps  and 
exploits  of  the  field.  The  pursuit  of  letters,  in  an  age 
so  barren  of  literary  resources,  soon  wearied  him. 
Ecclesiastical  duties  seemed  also  a  dreary  routine. 
Like  many  of  the  nobler  spirits  of  his  day,  he  deserted 
the  world  and  in  the  seclusion  of  his  own  thoughts 
sought  communion  with  Heaven.  His  mind,  unfur- 
nished with  information  of  the  actual  world,  filled  itself 

71 


72  Summons  to  Crusade. 

with  visions.  From  ecstatic  solitude  he  emerged  at 
times  to  sway  the  masses  with  the  eloquence  of  a 
second  John  the  Baptist.  According  to  tradition,  he 
made  the  pilgrimage  to  Palestine,  the  sight  of  whose 
holy  places  inflamed  his  spiritual  zeal,  while  the 
atrocities  perpetrated  upon  his  fellow- Christians  by 
the  Turks  rent  his  heart.  Together  with  Simeon,  the 
venerable  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  he  wept  over  the 
desolation  of  Zion.  He  there  conceived  the  sublime 
purpose  of  rousing  all  Europe  to  take  up  arms  against 
the  common  enemy.  One  day,  while  praying  before 
the  Holy  Sepulchre,  he  heard  the  voice  of  Christ 
saying,  "Peter,  arise!  hasten  to  proclaim  the  tribu- 
lations of  My  people."  Bearing  a  letter  from  the 
patriarch,  he  went  to  Rome  and  summoned  Pope 
Urban  H.,  as  the  Vicegerent  of  Jesus,  to  listen  to  this 
new  evangel  from  the  ascended  Lord.  Urban  per- 
ceived in  the  monk's  fervor  the  signs  of  the  will  of 
Heaven,  and  commissioned  him  to  proclaim  it  to  the 
nations  of  Europe. 

It  is  unfortunate  for  the  romance  of  this  part  of 
Peter's  life  that  it  is  unconfirmed  by  any  contem- 
porary records.  Anna  Comnena,  the  Greek  annalist, 
who  lived  in  Peter's  day,  declares  that,  while  he  started 
upon  the  pilgrimage,  he  did  not  reach  Jerusalem. 

It  is  best  to  regard  Peter's  career  as  having  been 
inspired  by  the  crusading  project  already  determined 
upon  by  others.  His  eloquence  was  like  the  first  rush 
of  steam  from  a  newly  opened  volcano;  it  could  not 
have  generated  the  mighty  force  that  upheaved 
Europe  and  "  hurled  it  against  Asia." 

But  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  personality  of 


Peter  the  Hermit.  ^t, 

Peter,  and  of  his  tremendous  influence  in  exciting  the 
populace  to  engage  in  the  crusades  after  they  were 
decreed  in  the  councils  of  Rome.  His  labors  in  the 
great  cause  seem  to  have  been  limited  to  certain  dis- 
tricts of  France,  for  it  is  scarcely  credible  that  a  man 
of  strange  language  could  have  thrown  the  spell  of 
his  rhapsodies  over  people  living  beyond  the  Rhine. 
Peter  the  Hermit  was  of  small  stature,  with  long  beard 
prematurely  whitened  by  the  rigors  of  his  life, — for 
he  was  not  yet  fifty  years  of  age, — with  deep  and 
penetrating  eyes,  fired  by  the  enthusiasm  that  filled 
his  soul.  He  travelled  from  place  to  place  with  un- 
covered head  and  bare  feet,  mounted  upon  a  mule. 
The  churches  proving  too  small,  the  people  thronged 
about  him  in  the  market-places  and  fields,  where 
they  drank  from  his  lips  wrath  for  the  Moslem,  pity 
for  the  Christian  martyrs,  whose  blood  he  painted  as 
flowing  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem,  and  hope  of  eter- 
nal reward  if  they  should  take  the  cross  and  sword. 
In  the  frenzy  of  speaking  he  wept,  wounded  his  own 
flesh  with  the  violence  of  his  gesticulation,  and  ex- 
hausted his  physical  strength  in  the  rhapsody  of 
speech,  as  he  called  upon  the  saints  in  heaven  and 
the  inanimate  rock  of  Calvary  to  cry  out  against  the 
apathy  of  the  Christian  world.  The  people  were 
readily  persuaded,  and  attributed  the  response  of 
their  own  passion,  already  inflamed  by  alarming 
events,  to  the  preacher's  miraculous  gifts.  They 
pressed  about  him  that  they  might  receive  some 
heavenly  grace  from  touching  his  person,  and  pre- 
served as  sacred  relics  the  hairs  they  pulled  from  the 
tail  of  his  mule. 


^ 


74  Summons  to  Crusade. 

Very  opportunely  there  arrived  at  Rome  in  the 
year  1095  ^^  embassy  from  Alexius,  the  Greek  em- 
peror at  Constantinople,  begging  assistance  against 
the  Turks,  who  were  threatening  the  shores  of  the 
Bosporus.  In  his  fright,  or  in  the  disingenuous 
diplomacy  for  which  the  Greeks  were  noted,  Alexius 
offered  to  reward  the  Western  warriors  with  the  trea- 
sure of  his  capital,  and  even  suggested  that  the  em- 
pire they  saved  from  the  Mussulman  might  one  day 
become  the  prize  of  the  Latin.  Urban  summoned  a 
synod  at  Piacenza,  where  the  Greek  messengers  ad- 
dressed in  the  open  fields  the  crowd  of  ecclesiastics 
and  laymen,  which  was  so  vast  that  neither  the  plazas 
nor  churches  of  the  city  could  contain  them. 

A  second  council,  more  imposing  on  account  of  the 
dignitaries  present,  was  held  at  Clermont  in  Novem- 
ber of  the  same  year.  In  his  speech  Urban  wrought 
the  assembly  to  a  fury  of  enthusiasm  as  he  cried, 
"  Exterminate  this  vile  race  [Turks  and  Arabs]  from 
the  land  ruled  by  our  brethren.  ,  .  .  It  is  Christ  who 
commands.  ...  If  any  lose  your  lives  on  the  jour- 
ney by  land  or  sea  or  in  fighting  against  the  heathen, 
their  sins  shall  be  remitted  in  that  hour.  This  I  grant 
through  the  power  of  God  vested  in  me.  .  .  .  Let 
those  who  have  hitherto  been  robbers  now  become 
soldiers.  Let  those  who  have  formerly  been  mer- 
cenaries at  low  wages  now  gain  eternal  rewards.  Let 
those  who  have  been  exhausting  themselves  to  the 
detriment  both  of  body  and  soul  now  strive  for  a  two- 
fold reward,  on  earth  and  in  heaven."  This  impas- 
sioned appeal  was  answered  by  the  cry  of  bishop  and 
lord  and  knight,  and  was  reechoed  by  the  assembled 


Universal  Enthusiasm.  75 

populace,  "  Deus  vult!  Deus  vult!"  ("God  wills 
it!")  "  Deus  vult!  let  that  be  your  watch-cry,"  re- 
sponded the  poutilT. 

All  ranks  and  conditions  of  men  thronged  to  re- 
ceive the  cross,  if  possible  from  the  hands  of  the  Holy 
Father  himself.  This  was  a  strip  of  red  cloth  given 
with  the  assuring  words,  "  Wear  it  upon  your  shoul-  y 
ders  and  your  breasts;  it  will  be  either  the  surety  of 
victory  or  the  palm  of  martyrdom."  All  priests 
throughout  Europe  were  authorized  to  give  the 
sacred  symbol,  with  the  full  papal  benediction,  to  the 
people  in  their  parishes.  Many,  in  their  infatuation, 
burned  the  cross-mark  into  their  quivering  flesh ; 
others,  grown  insane  through  zealotry,  imagined  the 
stigmata — as  these  signs  were  called — to  have  been 
produced  by  miraculous  process.  An  impostor  was 
readily  credited  with  having  received  the  mark  on  his 
forehead  by  the  hand  of  an  angel,  and  confessed  the 
fraud,  but  not  until  after  he  had  been  invested  with 
the  archbishopric  of  Caesarea  in  Palestine. 

Preachers  of  the  holy  war  went  everywhere.  Over 
western  Europe  the  enthusiasm  passed  like  a  forest 
fire.  During  the  winter  of  1095  there  seemed  to  be 
but  one  occupation  of  men  in  palace,  monastery,  and 
cottage  throughout  northern  France  and  along  the 
Lower  Rhine — that  of  preparing  arms  and  enrolling 
bands  for  the  mighty  exodus,  which  should  take  place 
as  soon  as  the  roads  became  passable  in  the  spring. 
The  rich  sold  or  mortgaged  their  estates  to  raise  the 
means  of  fitting  out  themselves  and  their  retainers. 
Knights  and  esquires  drilled  incessantly  for  feats  of 
arms  against  a  foe  whom  they  honored  for  his  rumored 


76  SummoJis  to  Crusade. 

prowess  in  fight  as  much  as  they  detested  him  for 
impiety.  Recluses  left  their  religious  retreats,  their 
minds  overwrought  with  anticipations  of  miracles  to  be 
performed  as  in  old  Bible  days,  when  waters  divided 
and  city  walls  fell  down  at  the  approach  of  God's  peo- 
ple. Robbers  emerged  from  their  hiding-places  or 
were  delivered  from  jails,  that  they  might  expiate  the 
crimes  already  committed  against  their  fellow-Chris- 
tians by  atrocities  to  be  practised  upon  the  unbeHever. 
Doubtless  many  were  influenced  by  a  genuine  reli- 
gious emotion,  as  the  proclamation  of  the  crusade  was 
accompanied  by  the  preaching  of  the  "  terrors  of  the 
Lord"  against  the  prevalent  sins  of  the  people.  To 
the  persuasion  of  Peter  the  Hermit  many  of  the  most 
notorious  sinners  attributed  their  reformation.  Young 
men  who  were  inclined  to  the  monastic  habit  to  es- 
cape the  temptations  of  the  world  were  easily  led  to 
substitute  the  helmet  for  the  cowl,  as  offering  a  life 
more  congenial  to  youthful  enterprise  and  at  the 
same  time  more  acceptable  to  God.  Multitudes  of 
the  ignorant  were  animated  by  the  new  and  popular 
enthusiasm  without  understanding  its  motive,  and 
were  drawn  as  by  a  freshet  into  the  common  channel. 
That  no  one  might  be  deterred  by  domestic  anxieties 
from  engaging  in  the  crusades,  the  church  guaranteed 
the  protection  of  the  families  and  property  of  ab- 
sentees ;  and  that  no  one  might  be  tempted,  in  the 
subsidence  of  the  first  fervor,  to  reconsider  his  pur- 
pose, excommunication  was  threatened  those  who  did 
not  fulfil  their  vows. 

Thus  western  Europe  in  the  spring  of  1096  was  not 
unHke  a  beehive,  on  the  outside  of  which  the  insects 


Europe  Suhiriiis  Eastward.  yy 

are  gathered  preparatory  to  swarming.  Guibert,  a 
contemporary,  says  :  "Although  the  French  alone  had 
heard  the  preaching  of  the  crusade,  what  Christian 
people  did  not  supply  soldiers  as  well  ?  .  .  .  You 
might  have  seen  the  Scotch  [who  represented  to  the 
continental  mind  the  ends  of  the  earth],  covered 
with  shaggy  cloaks,  hasten  from  the  heart  of  their 
marshes.  ...  I  take  God  to  witness  that  there 
landed  in  our  ports  barbarians  from  nations  I  wist  not 
of ;  no  one  understood  their  tongues,  but  placing  their 
fingers  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  they  made  sign  that 
they  desired  to  proceed  to  the  defence  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith." 

The  flight  of  these  swarms  of  humanity  eastward 
had  three  consecutive  features  which  should  be  noted. 
First,  it  was  a  crusade  of  the  crowd,  which  began  in 
March,  1096;  secondly  came  the  more  orderly  mili- 
tary movement,  under  the  great  feudal  chieftains, 
which  began  in  the  subsequent  autumn;  and  thirdly, 
the  enterprise  became  consolidated  on  national  lines, 
under  the  kings,  who  gradually  acquired  power  and 
took  command  of  their  various  peoples.  This  last 
feature,  however,  did  not  appear  until  the  second 
crusade,  nearly  half  a  century  later. 


THE   FIRST   CRUSADE. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   CRUSADE    OF   THE    CROWD. 

HE  eloquence  of  Peter  served  him  in  the 
stead  of  more  orderly  methods  of  enlist- 
ing the  people.  Untrained  masses  of  men, 
women,  and  children  followed  him  from 
place  to  place,  and  about  Easter  to  the 
number  of  upward  of  sixty  thousand  crossed  the 
Rhine.  Walter,  surnamed  the  Penniless,  assumed 
the  leadership  of  the  advance  portion  of  this  impatient 
throng.  The  people,  however,  cared  little  for  any 
authority  save  that  of  the  imagined  divine  presence, 
which  would  appear  through  pillars  of  cloud  and 
fire  to  direct  them  in  emergency.  The  fears  of  the 
more  cautious  were  silenced  by  a  saying  of  Solo- 
mon, "  The  grasshoppers  have  no  king,  yet  they  go 
forth  in  companies."  A  goose  and  a  goat  were  led  at 
the  head  of  the  motley  procession,  under  the  fanatical 
delusion  that  in  these  creatures  resided  some  super- 
human wisdom.  It  has  been  suggested  that  this 
superstition  was  due  to  the  importation  of  Manichean 
notions,  since  the  goose  was  the  Egyptian  symbol  for 

78 


Walter  the  Pe?t7iiless — Peter — Gottschalk.  79 

the  divine  sonship,  and  the  goat  represented  the 
devil — the  opposing  principles  of  good  and  evil  as 
conceived  by  this  Eastern  sect. 

The  first  vengeance  of  the  marching  crowd  was  in- 
flicted npon  the  Jews,  whose  historic  infidelity  excited 
the  wrath,  or  whose  accnmulated  wealth  tempted  the 
cupidity,  of  the  ill-provided  host.  In  the  cities  of 
what  is  now  western  Germany  this  unfortunate  people 
were  pillaged  and  massacred  to  such  an  extent  that, 
says  Gibbon,  "  they  had  felt  no  more  bloody  stroke 
since  the  persecution  of  Hadrian."  The  crusaders' 
appetite  for  plunder  thus  whetted,  they  passed  on  to 
the  ruder  countries  of  Hungary  and  Bulgaria,  where 
they  took  a  forceful  revenge  upon  a  people  of  kindred 
Christian  faith  for  refusing  to  supply  them  with  pro- 
visions. This  provoked  a  bloody  retaliation,  under 
which  the  advanced  crusaders  were  scattered,  more 
than  two  thirds  of  their  number  perishing  in  the  de- 
files of  the  Thracian  mountains. 

Peter,  who  had  delayed  at  Cologne,  with  a  new 
German  contingent  followed  the  desolate  track  of  his 
forerunners.  He  propitiated  Coloman,  the  Hungarian 
king;  but  at  Semlin,  enraged  at  the  marks  of  the  dis- 
comfiture of  Walter,  he  looted  the  town.  At  Nisch  his 
army  abused  the  hospitality  of  the  Bulgarian  prince, 
Nichita,  who  had  given  them  the  freedom  of  the  mar- 
ket. The  outraged  people  took  terrible  vengeance, 
and  Peter's  host  was  driven  out.  At  length,  in  sorry 
remnants,  they  reached  Constantinople  August  (30, 
1096).  With  the  permission  of  the  Emperor  Alexius, 
they  pitched  their  camp  outside  the  city  gates  to 
wait  for  the  new  bands  of  crusaders. 


8o  The  First  Crusade, 

A  third  horde  pressed  upon  the  footsteps  of  Walter 
and  Peter,  led  by  Gottschalk,  a  German  priest.  Reach- 
ing Hungary  in  the  midst  of  the  late  summer  harvest, 
they  forgot  their  religious  vows  in  the  abundance 
which  surrounded  them,  and  gave  themselves  up  to 
every  form  of  debauchery.  King  Coloman  lulled  the 
invaders  into  a  feeling  of  security  until,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  a  time  when  they  were  unarmed,  he  gave 
orders  for  their  extirpation.  This  was  not  difficult  to 
accomplish,  as  the  followers  of  Gottschalk  were  of  a 
lower  class  than  even  those  who  had  preceded  them, 
largely  vagabonds  and  brigands,  ferocious  only  in 
crime,  and  without  the  spirit  of  noble  and  sustained 
adventure. 

A  still  more  unconscionable  crowd  had  in  the  mean- 
time gathered  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  and  Moselle. 
A  bigoted  priest,  Volkman,  and  a  reprobate  count, 
Emico,  were  chosen  leaders.  These  men  hoped  to 
atone  for  the  crimes  of  youth  by  excesses  of  cruelty 
wrought  under  the  name  of  religion.  This  band  met 
with  terrible  chastisement  from  the  Hungarians  at 
Merseburg,  The  walls  of  the  town,  which  they  had 
undermined,  gave  way  under  their  assault  and  buried 
multitudes  of  the  assailants  in  the  falling  debris.  In 
the  words  of  William  of  Tyre,  the  panegyrist  of  the 
later  crusades,  "  God  Himself  spread  terror  through 
their  ranks  to  punish  their  crimes  and  to  fulfil  the 
words  of  the  Wise  Man,  '  The  wicked  flee  when  no 
man  pursueth.'"  Through  Bulgaria  their  advance 
was  of  the  nature  of  flight  to  gain  the  sheltering 
walls  of  Constantinople. 

Here,  about  the  Greek  capital,  were  collected  the 


Volkman — E7nico — General  Disaster,    ^y 


wrecks  of  various  expeditions.  If  the  memory  of 
their  misfortunes,  augmented  by  their  different  stories 
of  the  journey,  depressed  and  solemnized  the  cru- 
saders, idleness  and  the  sight  of  the  riches  of  Con- 
stantinople inflamed  their  natural  thirst  for  spoil. 
Homes  and  even  churches  in  the  suburbs  were  looted. 
The  Emperor  Alexius  induced  his  unwelcome  guests 
to  cross  the  Bosporus  into  Nicomedia,  where  for  two 
months  he  supplied  their  wants,  as  men  feed  wild 
beasts  that  they  may  not  themselves  fall  prey  to  their 
rapacity. 

The  impetuosity  of  the  crusaders  was  soon  stirred 
again  by  their  proximity  to  the  Turks.  They  reforti- 
fied  the  deserted  fortress  of  Exerogorgo ;  but  scarcely 
were  they  within  its  walls  when  Kilidge- Arslan  ("sword 
of  the  lion"),  the  Sultan  of  Roum,  laid  siege  to  and 
captured  the  place.  He  then  surprised  the  town  of 
Civitat,  outside  of  which  the  crusaders  had  made  their 
chief  camp.  A  terrible  massacre  ensued.  Out  of  a 
numberless  multitude,  but  three  thousand  remained 
to  contemplate,  instead  of  proud  cities  they  had  hoped 
to  wrest  from  the  Infidel,  the  piles  of  bones  which 
strewed  the  plains  of  Nic.xa.  Walter  was  slain,  and 
the  town  into  which  the  miserable  remnant  was 
huddled  would  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
Turks  but  for  the  opportune  relief  afforded  by  the 
imperial  troops  from  Constantinople.  It  is  estimated 
by  Gibbon  that  not  less  than  three  hundred  thousand 
lives  were  lost  in  these  preliminary  excursions  before 
the  more  orderly  hosts  started  from  western  Europe. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  CRUSADE  UNDER  THE  CHIEFTAINS,  GOD- 
FREY, RAYMOND,  BOHEMOND,  TANCRED,  HUGH, 
ROBERT  OF  NORMANDY. 

HE  age,  though  degenerate,  had  nourished 
an  order  of  men  of  far  loftier  type  than 
those  we  have  described.  Godfrey  of 
Bouillon  was  the  most  prominent  figure. 
The  chivalric  spirit  of  the  middle  ages  en- 
rolled him  among  the  nine  greatest  heroes  of  man- 
kind— Joshua,  David,  Judas  Maccabaeus,  Hector, 
Alexander,  Caesar,  Arthur,  Charlemagne,  and  God- 
frey. He  was  of  noblest  lineage.  His  father  was 
brother-in-law  to  Edward  the  Confessor  of  England, 
and  through  his  mother,  the  beautiful  and  saintly  Ida 
of  Lorraine,  he  inherited  the  blood  of  Charlemagne. 
He  was  short  of  stature,  but  of  such  prodigious 
strength  that  he  is  reputed  to  have  divided  an  oppo- 
nent from  helmet  to  saddle  with  one  blow  of  his  sword. 
He  was  equally  endowed  with  courage  and  sagacity. 
In  his  war  against  the  rival  emperor,  Rudolph,  Henry 
IV.  committed  the  imperial  standard  to  Godfrey,  who, 
though  but  a  youth  of  eighteen,  honored  this  charge 
by  penetrating  to  the  presence  of  Rudolph  in  the 
thick  of  the  battle,  plunging  the  spear  of  the  standard 
through  his  heart,  and  bearing  it  aloft  with  the  blood 

82 


Godf^'ey — Raymond — Bohemond.         83 

of  victory.  Yet  such  a  deed  in  that  age  did  not  lessen 
his  repute  for  gentleness  and  piety.  Two  ancestral 
spirits  alternated  their  control  of  him,  if  we  are  to 
credit  the  praise  given  him  by  an  old  chronicle  of  the 
time  :  "  For  zeal  in  war,  behold  his  father;  for  serving 
God,  behold  his  mother."  When  Rome  was  besieged 
by  his  imperial  patron,  Godfrey  signalized  his  prowess 
by  being  the  first  to  mount  the  walls.  This  exploit, 
however,  troubled  his  tender  conscience  as  a  devout 
Catholic,  and  when  the  crusade  was  proclaimed  he 
sold  his  lands  and  devoted  himself  to  the  holy  war, 
in  attempted  expiation  of  what  he  had  come  to  regard 
as  his  former  impious  deeds.  At  the  head  of  ten 
thousand  horse  and  seventy  thousand  foot,  he  set  out 
for  the  Holy  Land.  He  was  accompanied  by  his  two 
brothers,  Baldwin  and  Eustace. 

Raymond  of  Toulouse  led  a  second  army  composed 
of  the  men  of  Languedoc.  He  was  the  most  opulent 
and  haughty  of  the  chieftains,  as  well  as  the  most  ex- 
perienced in  years  and  war.  He  had  fought  by  the 
side  of  the  Cid  in  Spain,  and  was  haloed  in  popular 
estimate  with  some  of  the  glory  of  that  great  knight. 
Alfonso  VI.  of  Castile  had  not  hesitated  to  bestow 
upon  him  his  daughter  Elvira,  who  shared  with  her 
husband  the  hazard  of  the  expedition.  One  hundred 
thousand  warriors  followed  in  Raymond's  train  as  he 
took  the  cross.  With  him  went  Bishop  Adhemar  of  Puy, 
the  papal  legate,  who,  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Father, 
was  the  spiritual  head  of  the  combined  expeditions. 

Bohemond  of  Taranto  marshalled  another  host. 
He  was  son  of  the  famous  Robert  Guiscard,  founder 
of  the  Norman  kingdom  of  Naples.     Anna  Comnena 


84  The  First  Crusade. 

thus  describes  him :  "  He  was  taller  than  the  tallest 
by  a  cubit.  There  was  an  agreeability  in  his  appear- 
ance, but  the  agreeability  was  destroyed  by  terror. 
There  was  something  not  human  in  that  stature  and 
look  of  his.  His  smile  seemed  to  me  alive  with 
threat."  The  fair  annalist  recognized  Bohemond's 
inheritance  of  his  great  father's  prestige  and  ability, 
and  at  the  same  time  of  his  disposition  "  to  regard  as 
foes  all  whose  dominions  and  riches  he  coveted ;  and 
was  not  restrained  by  fear  of  God,  by  man's  opinions, 
or  by  his  own  oaths."  Robert  Guiscard  had  died 
while  preparing  for  an  attempt  to  capture  Constan- 
tinople. With  filial  pride,  his  son  Bohemond  had  also 
"  sworn  eternal  enmity  to  the  Greek  emperors.  He 
smiled  at  the  idea  of  traversing  their  empire  at  the 
head  of  an  army,  and,  full  of  confidence  in  his  for- 
tunes, he  hoped  to  make  for  himself  a  kingdom  before 
arriving  at  Jerusalem^"  When  the  march  of  the  other 
crusaders  was  reported  to  him,  with  an  ostentation  of 
piety  which  his  subsequent  career  scarcely  justified, 
Bohemond  tore  his  own  elegant  mantle  into  tiny 
crosses  and  distributed  them  to  his  soldiers,  who  were 
at  the  time  engaged  in  the  less  glorious  attempt  of 
reducing  the  Christian  town  of  Amalfi. 

Tancred  de  Hauteville  by  his  splendid  character 
amply  compensated  the  defects  of  Bohemond,  his 
kinsman.  In  history  and  romance  he  is  celebrated 
as  the  type  of  the  perfect  soldier : 

"  Than  whom 
...  is  no  nobler  knight, 
More  mild  in  manner,  fair  in  manly  bloom, 
Or  more  sublimely  daring  in  the  fight." 


Tancred— Hugh— Robert  of  Normandy.  8  5 


Dissatisfied  with  even  the  ideals  of  Chivalry,  Tancred 
hailed  the  new  lustre  that  might  be  given  to  arms 
when  wielded  only  in  the  cause  of  justice,  mercy,  and 
faith,  which,  perhaps  too  sanguinely,  he  foresaw  in 
the  crusade.  Thus  nobly  seconded  by  Tancred,  Bohe- 
mond  took  the  field  with  one  hundred  thousand  horse 
and  twenty  thousand  foot. 

Hugh  of  Vermandois,  brother  of  Philip  I.  of  France, 
led  the  host  of  Langue  d'Oil,  as  Raymond  that  of 
Languedoc. 

Robert  of  Normandy,  son  of  William  the  Con- 
queror, set  out  with  nearly  all  his  nobles.  To  raise 
money  for  the  expedition,  he  mortgaged  his  duchy 
to  his  brother,  William  Rufus  of  England,  for  ten 
thousand  silver  marks,  a  sum  which  that  impious 
monarch  raised  by  stripping  the  churches  of  their 
plate  and  taxing  their  clergy.  Robert  was  compan- 
ioned by  Stephen  of  Blois,  whose  castles  were  "  as 
many  as  the  days  of  the  year,"  and  by  Robert  of 
Flanders,  "  the  lance  and  sword  of  the  Christians." 

These  leaders,  deterred  by  the  difficulty  of  obtain- 
ing sustenance  for  such  multitudes  as  followed  them, 
agreed  to  take  separate  routes,  which  should  converge 
at  Constantinople.  Count  Hugh  was  the  first  afield. 
He  crossed  the  Adriatic,  and  after  much  beating  by 
tempest  gathered  his  men  at  Durazzo.  Here  he  ex- 
perienced what  his  comrades  were  continually  to  meet, 
the  treachery  of  the  Greek  emperor,  Alexius.  Being 
the  brother  of  the  French  king,  Hugh  would  be  a 
valuable  possession  of  the  Greeks,  as  hostage  for  the 
good  behavior  of  his  brethren.  By  Alexius's  order  he 
was  seized  and  sent  without  his  army  to  Constantinople, 


86  The  First  Crusade. 

Godfrey's  band  took  the  road  through  Hungary, 
already  marked  by  the  bones  of  the  crusaders  under 
Peter  and  Walter.  The  ghastly  warnings  everywhere 
about  him  encouraged  him  to  treat  with  justice  and 
kindness  his  coreligionists  through  whose  lands  he 
was  journeying.  He  enforced  strict  military  discipline 
against  pillage,  and  appeased  the  wrath  of  the  Hun- 
garians by  leaving  his  brother  Baldwin  in  their  hands 
as  hostage  for  his  good  faith.  But  beneath  the 
gentleness  of  Godfrey  smouldered  fiery  indignation 
against  all  forms  of  injustice.  When,  therefore,  he 
heard  of  the  capture  of  Count  Hugh  he  demanded  of 
the  emperor  instant  reparation,  failing  to  receive 
which,  he  took  summary  revenge  by  laying  waste  the 
country  about  Adrianople.  The  emperor  reluctantly 
pledged  the  release  of  Count  Hugh.  When  the 
crusaders  camped  before  Constantinople,  Alexius 
refused  to  sell  them  provisions  except  on  condition 
of  their  rendering  homage  to  his  throne.  Several 
leaders  had  in  their  extremity  yielded  this  point,  but 
Godfrey  replied  by  letting  loose  his  soldiers  to  gather 
as  they  might ;  this  brought  Alexius  to  better  terms. 

Bohemond  and  Tancred  crossed  the  sea  to  Durazzo 
and  thence  took  the  route  eastward  through  Mace- 
donia and  Thrace.  Hearing  of  the  duplicity  of 
Alexius,  Bohemond  urged  Godfrey  to  seize  upon 
Constantinople.  Though  Godfrey  declined  to  divert 
his  sword  from  the  Infidels,  the  rumor  of  Bohemond's 
proposal  led  the  haughty  Greek  to  seek  closer  alliance 
with  his  unwelcome  guests.  With  stately  parade,  he 
adopted  Godfrey  as  a  son,  and,  in  return  for  the  formal 
bending  of  the  knee  at  his  throne,  intrusted  to  him 


Various  Routes  of  the  Chieftains.        87 

the  defence  of  the  empire.  When  Bohemond  reached 
the  Eastern  court  he  was  received  with  flattering 
protestations  of  friendship,  which  he  repaid  with  equal 
adulation  and  as  unblushing  deceit.  These  two  men 
at  least  understood  each  other,  perhaps  by  that  subtle 
instinct  which  leads  serpents  of  a  kind  to  come 
together. 

Count  Raymond  had  greater  difficulties  in  leading 
his  forces  from  northern  Italy  around  the  head  of  the 
Adriatic  and  over  the  mountains  of  Dalmatia,  whose 
semi-savage  inhabitants  menaced  his  march.  From 
Durazzo,  he  says,  "  right  and  left  did  the  emperor's 
Turks  and  Comans,  his  Pincenati  and  Bulgarians,  lie 
in  wait  for  us ;  and  this  though  in  his  letters  he  spoke 
to  us  of  peace  and  brotherhood."  The  stern  warrior 
inflicted  cruel  retaliation  upon  his  assailants  by  cut- 
ting ofT  the  noses  and  ears  of  those  he  captured.  On 
arriving  at  Constantinople,  the  irate  veteran  proposed 
to  his  brother  chieftains  to  immediately  sack  the  city. 
But,  in  spite  of  his  severity,  the  blunt  honesty  of  Ray- 
mond eventually  won  from  Alexius  more  praise  than 
did  the  apparent  compliance  of  his  brethren  ;  for,  says 
Anna  Comnena,  "  My  father  knew  that  he  [Raymond] 
preferred  honor  and  truth  above  all  things." 

The  expedition  of  Robert  of  Normandy  gave  no 
credit  to  the  crusading  zeal.  That  chief,  surnamed 
"  Short-hose  "  and  "  the  Fat,"  chose  the  route  through 
Italy,  and  justified  his  repute  for  indolence  by  spend- 
ing the  entire  winter  in  that  genial  climate.  Robert 
of  Flanders  and  a  few  resolute  kindred  spirits  shamed 
the  lethargy  of  their  brethren,  and  crossed  the  Adriatic 
in  spite  of  wintry  storms.    Many  others,  disgusted  with 


88  The  First  Crusade. 

the  general  conduct  of  affairs,  returned  to  their  homes. 
It  was  not  until  after  Easter  in  1097  that  Duke  Robert 
and  Count  Stephen  embarked  at  Brindisi. 

All  these  armies  were  encumbered  by  the  presence 
of  women  and  children,  since  the  crusading  scheme 
proposed  not  only  war  against  the  Mussulman,  but 
settlement  in  the  lands  that  should  be  conquered.  In 
some  cases  the  entire  population  of  villages  and  sec- 
tions of  cities  tramped  eastward,  so  that  the  move- 
ment took  the  character  of  a  migration  rather  than 
that  of  a  campaign. 

The  dealings  of  the  Greek  emperor  with  the  cru- 
saders were  characteristic  of  the  man.  Alexius  Com- 
nenus  had  secured  the  throne  in  108 1  by  successful 
rebellion  and  the  capture  through  treachery  of  the 
capital,  which  he  gave  over  to  license  and  rapine. 
His  subsequent  policy  as  a  ruler  was  in  keeping  with 
its  beginning.  The  intrigues  by  which  he  acquired 
power  were  matched  by  the  despotic  cruelty  with 
which  he  held  it.  His  career  has  been  depicted  for 
us  by  the  partial  pen  of  his  daughter  Anna.  Through 
her  fulsome  coloring  we  can  detect  the  contemptible 
disposition  of  Alexius,  and  in  her  unblushing  admis- 
sions, while  purposing  only  to  praise,  we  can  also  see 
much  of  the  prevailing  degeneracy  of  the  Greek  mind 
and  conscience.  Sir  Walter  Scott  would  temper  our 
contempt  for  the  man  by  the  consideration  that  "  if 
Alexius  commonly  employed  cunning  and  dissimula- 
tion instead  of  wisdom,  and  perfidy  instead  of  courage, 
his  expedients  were  the  disgrace  of  the  age  rather 
than  his  own."  But  his  wife,  the  Empress  Irene, 
without    doubt  correctly   summarized    his    personal 


Cha  racier  of  A  lex  ins — Fca  r  of  Latins.   89 

character  when,  watching  by  his  death-bed,  she  ex- 
ckiimed,  "You  die  as  you  have  Hved,  a  hypocrite." 

No  doubt  Alexius  had  reason  to  fear  the  proximity 
of  the  crusaders.  In  the  strong  figure  of  Gibbon,  he 
was  hke  the  Hindu  shepherd  who  prayed  for  water. 
Heaven  turned  the  Ganges  into  his  grounds  and 
swept  away  his  flocks  and  cottage  in  the  inundation. 
Alexius  was  aware  of  the  ambition  of  Bohemond  to 
harm  the  Greek  empire,  and  suspected  all  his  com- 
rades of  similar  designs.  The  rude  manners  of  the 
invaders  were  also  such  as  not  to  ingratiate  them 
with  the  sycophancy  of  the  court.  Once,  while  the 
Franks  were  paying  homage  to  the  emperor,  one  of 
them  unceremoniously  placed  himself  beside  his 
Majesty,  remarking,  "  It  is  shocking  that  this  jacka- 
napes should  be  seated,  while  so  many  noble  captains 
are  standing  yonder." 

Alexius  was  doubtless  right  in  exacting  from  his 
visitors  an  oath  of  loyalty  while  within  his  dominions, 
and  a  pledge  to  turn  over  to  him  any  Greek  cities  and 
fortresses  they  might  recapture  from  the  Turks.  This 
was  agreed  to  by  all  except  Count  Raymond,  who 
declared  that  he  would  have  no  oath  but  to  Christ, 
and  invited  the  emperor  to  .share  with  the  crusaders 
the  marches  and  battles  against  the  Turks  if  he  would 
divide  the  spoil.  The  ambition  and  cupidity  of  Bohe- 
mond were  stayed  with  bribes.  Thus  Alexius  one 
day  introduced  the  Norman  leader  into  a  roomful  of 
treasures.  "  Ah,  here  is  wherewith  to  conquer  king- 
doms!" exclaimed  Bohemond.  The  next  day  the 
treasures  were  transferred  to  his  tent.  The  amazing 
request  of  Bohemond  to  be  appointed  Grand  Domestic, 


90  The  First  Crusade. 

or  general  of  the  Greek  empire,  was  declined  by  Alex- 
ius, who  had  himself  held  that  office  and  found  it  a 
convenient  step  to  the  throne.  He,  however,  prom- 
ised Bohemond  the  rule  of  the  principality  of  Antioch 
in  the  event  of  his  conquering  it  with  his  sword. 
Tancred,  with  a  dehcate  sense  of  honor  that  shamed 
the  truculency  of  his  kinsman,  fled  the  imperial  lures 
by  avoiding  the  city  and  keeping  himself  in  disguise 
on  the  Asiatic  side  of  the  Bosporus.  His  example 
was  not  lost  upon  his  fellow-chieftains,  who  felt  the 
enervating  influence  of  the  daily  vision  of  palaces, 
villas,  gorgeous  equipages,  and,  as  the  historian  has 
fondly  noted,  the  beauty  of  the  women  of  the  capital. 
Alexius  encouraged  the  virtuous  purpose  of  the 
Latins  to  resume  the  crusade,  from  considerations  of 
their  menace  to  his  own  domain  while  encamped 
within  it.  With  apparent  magnanimity,  he  facilitated 
their  crossing  the  Bosporus,  and  applauded  the  hero- 
ism of  their  start  through  the  plains  of  Bithynia.  In 
every  way  he  fanned  their  enthusiasm  against  the 
Turk ;  but  at  the  same  time  he  informed  the  enemy 
of  the  movement  of  his  alHes,  that  their  victories 
might  not  diminish  his  own  prestige,  and  that,  in  the 
event  of  their  discomfiture,  he  might  profit  by  the 
friendship  of  the  Infidel. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   FALL   OF   NIC/EA. 

HE  first  objective  chosen  by  the  crusaders 
was  Nicrea,  a  city  sacred  with  the  memo- 
ries of  the  first  great  ecumenical  council 
of  the  Christian  church,  in  the  time  of 
Constantine.  On  their  march  the  soldiers 
of  the  cross  were  saddened  by  the  continual  sight  of 
the  decayed  bodies  of  those  who  had  fallen  in  the  ill- 
advised  expedition  of  Peter  and  Walter.  A  few  sur- 
vivors of  this  calamity,  in  rags  and  semi-starvation, 
came  from  their  hiding-places  to  welcome  their  breth- 
ren. Among  them  was  the  Hermit  himself.  His  tale 
of  woe  sharpened  their  zeal  and  encouraged  their 
caution  against  the  skill  and  bravery  of  the  enemy. 

The  Infidels  were  under  the  command  of  Kilidge- 
Arslan,  Sultan  of  Roum,  still  flushed  with  his  slaughter 
of  the  first  crusaders.  He  had  fortified  Nicaea,  and 
had  gathered  within  and  about  its  walls  sixty  thousand 
men,  drawn  from  all  the  provinces  of  Asia  Minor  and 
from  distant  Persia.  May  15,  1097,  the  Christians 
sat  down  before  the  place  and  began  the  siege. 

The  crusading  knights  were  clad  in  the  hauberk,  a 
coat  of  mail  made  of  rings  of  steel;    all   wore  the 

9» 


92  The  First  Crusade. 

casque,  covered  with  iron  for  common  soldiers,  with 
steel  for  untitled  knights,  and  with  silver  to  denote 
the  princely  rank.  Horsemen  carried  round,  square, 
or  kite-shaped  shields ;  footmen  longer  ones,  made 
ordinarily  of  elm,  w^iich  protected  the  entire  body. 
Helmets  of  steel  or  chain  hoods  covered  the  head. 
The  weapons  of  offence  were  the  lance  of  ash  tipped 
with  steel,  the  sword,  often  of  enormous  length  and 
weight,  to  be  wielded  with  both  hands,  the  axe,  the 
mace,  the  poniard,  the  club,  the  sling,  and,  what  at 
that  time  was  a  novelty  to  the  Turks  and  Greeks,  the 
crossbow  of  steel,  which  Anna  Comnena  called  a 
"  thoroughly  diabohcal  device."  The  knight's  horse 
was  usually  a  heavy  beast,  whose  tough  muscles  were 
needed  to  carry  the  weighty  armament  mounted  upon 
his  back,  together  with  his  own  housings,  which  con- 
sisted of  a  saddle  plated  with  steel,  gathered  as  a 
breastplate  in  front  and  projecting  backward  so  as  to 
protect  the  flanks  and  loins.  The  horse's  head  was 
likewise  hooded  with  metal,  ornamented  between  the 
eyes  with  a  short,  sharp  pike  like  the  horn  of  the  uni- 
corn. But,  notwithstanding  the  burden  he  carried, 
the  knight  acquired  by  discipline  a  marvellous  celerity 
of  movement,  often  bafifling  the  anticipation  of  the 
most  wary  antagonist,  while  in  the  crash  of  conflict 
he  bore  down  his  foe  with  superior  weight.  In  the 
train  of  the  crusading  knight  were  carried  the  materials 
for  the  erection  of  rams  with  which  to  batter  down 
walls,  catapults  to  hurl  huge  rocks,  and  siege-castles, 
or  movable  towers,  which  overtopped  the  opposing 
defences  and  were  provided  with  bridges  to  let  down 
upon  the  walls. 


Contrast  of  CJn'islian  and  Moslem  Soldier.  93 

The  Turkish  or  Saracen  soldier  was  more  lightly 
accoutred.  His  horse  was  of  more  slender  mould, 
deep-winded,  and  fleet  of  limb.  In  the  encounter 
the  rider  depended  upon  the  momentum  acquired 
by  celerity  rather  than  that  of  weight.  The  long 
but  light  spear,  brandished  rather  than  couched,  the 
crescent-shaped,  slender,  but  well-tempered  cimeter, 
the  shield  of  leather,  made,  where  attainable,  of  rhi- 
noceros's hide  rather  than  of  metal,  the  light  bow, 
the  quiver  filled  with  nicely  balanced  arrows,  the 
many  folds  of  the  muslin  turban  which  protected  the 
head  from  the  Ea.stern  sun — these  made  an  almost 
ideal  contrast  with  the  appearance  of  his  Western 
antagonist  when  upon  the  march.  The  armor  of 
Christian  and  Moslem,  so  diverse,  necessitated  ma- 
noeuvres in  the  battle  which  in  their  first  encounters 
were  almost  equally  bewildering  to  both  contestants. 

In  the  assault  upon  Nicaeathe  Christians  numbered 
upward  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  men.  Against  them 
Kilidge-Arslan  had  at  least  one  hundred  thousand  and 
the  advantage  of  the  city  fortifications.  The  place 
was  encircled  with  a  double  line  of  walls,  surmounted 
by  three  hundred  and  seventy  towers,  and  guarded 
from  approach  by  a  deep  canal  or  moat.  On  the  east 
high  mountains  obstructed  the  way;  on  the  west  and 
south  the  Lake  of  Ascanius  prevented  attack,  while 
it  gave  the  besieged  an  outlet  to  the  sea,  through 
which  they  could  replenish  their  provisions  and  ranks 
in  spite  of  their  foes. 

The  Christians  were  divided  into  nineteen  different 
camps,  representing  as  many  different  nations.  Their 
habit  of  fighting,  not  on  extensive  battle  lines,  but  in 


94  The  First  Crusade. 

groups  about  the  standards  of  their  special  leaders, 
gave  plausibility  to  the  declaration  of  Kilidge-Arslan, 
as  he  viewed  the  invaders  from  his  mountain  outlook, 
that  "  disorder  reigned  in  their  army  "  and  that  their 
very  numbers  insured  their  defeat.  With  tremendous 
vigor,  he  hurled  his  forces  in  two  divisions  upon  the 
camps  of  Godfrey  and  Raymond.  The  Christians 
were  dislodged  from  their  defences  as  bowlders  from 
their  places  by  a  spring  freshet.  It  seemed  that  they 
must  be  swept  away  in  the  impetuous  torrent,  but 
quickly  the  tide  of  battle  turned,  and  the  Turks  were 
driven  back  to  their  mountain  fortresses.  Again  they 
descended,  but  only  to  cover  the  field  with  their  dead, 
as  the  exhausted  freshet  leaves  upon  the  ground  it 
has  inundated  the  debris  it  brought  down  from  the 
hills,  while  the  rocks  it  assailed  still  lie  near  the  posi- 
tion where  they  sustained  the  assault.  The  brutality 
that  distempered  the  age  was  illustrated  by  the  Chris- 
tian victors,  who  severed  many  heads  from  the  bodies 
of  the  slain  and  slung  them  as  trophies  from  their 
saddle-bows.  With  ghoulish  pride,  they  hurled  a 
thousand  of  them  from  their  catapults  into  the  city. 
One  of  these  "  soldiers  of  the  cross,"  Anselme  of  Ribe- 
mont,  wrote  to  the  Archbishop  of  Rheims  :  "  Our  men, 
returning  in  victory  and  bearing  many  heads  fixed 
upon  pikes,  furnished  a  joyful  spectacle  for  the  people 
of  God." 

One  line  of  walls  soon  fell  beneath  the  rams  of  the 
besiegers,  but  it  only  revealed  another  within.  The 
Christians  dragged  vessels  overland  from  Civitat  (the 
modern  Guemlik),  and  by  night  launched  them  upon 
the  Lake  of  Ascanius,  thus  cutting  off  reinforcement 


Capture  of  Niccea —  Treachery  of  A  lexius.  95 


for  the  garrison  within  the  city.  After  seven  weeks 
of  almost  incredible  effort,  Nicaea  was  about  to  fall  to 
the  reward  of  its  Latin  conquerors,  when  suddenly 
there  appeared  upon  the  ramparts  numerous  strange 
standards.  To  the  amazement  of  the  Christians,  these 
proved  to  be  not  those  of  the  Turk,  but  of  the  Greek. 
Alexius,  conniving  with  the  enemy,  had  surrepti- 
tiously introduced  into  Nicsea  a  detachment  of  his 
own  troops,  and  thus  secured  the  surrender  to  him- 
self of  what  had  been  won  by  others.  The  rage  of 
the  crusaders  knew  no  bounds.  With  the  price  of 
their  blood  they  had  gained  nothing  but  the  honor 
of  their  valor.  Only  the  utmost  discretion  on  the  part 
of  the  chieftains  prevented  the  army  from  declaring 
war  upon  Alexius  and  marching  back  to  the  capture  of 
Constantinople.  It  afterwards  transpired  that  Alex- 
ius's  movement  had  been  encouraged  by  some  of  the 
leaders  of  the  crusade,  that  their  armies  might  not  be 
weakened  by  leaving  garrisons  to  hold  the  captured 
places. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

BATTLE  OF  DORYL^UM — TARSUS — DEFECTION 
OF    BALDWIN. 

ROM  Nicaea  the  Christians  advanced  (June 
29,  1097)  through  Asia  Minor  towards 
the  Holy  Land.  Their  march  was  over  a 
roadless  country,  threading  the  ravines 
and  climbing  the  precipices  of  mountains, 
across  plains  desolated  by  the  retreating  foe,  under 
the  burning  heat  of  the  midsummer  sun,  and  exposed 
to  the  guerilla  attacks  of  a  half-beaten  enemy,  whose 
main  army  was  rapidly  recruiting  and  waiting  with 
double  its  former  numbers  to  renew  the  battle. 

In  order  to  procure  provisions,  the  crusaders  divided 
their  forces — one  band  under  Bohemond,  Tancred, 
Count  Hugh,  and  Robert  of  Normandy,  the  other 
under  Godfrey,  Raymond,  Adhemar,  and  Robert  of 
Flanders.  The  former  had  camped  with  confident 
security  in  a  little  valley  near  Dorylaeum  in  Phrygia. 
On  the  morning  of  July  ist  sudden  clouds  of  dust 
appeared  on  the  height  above,  and  a  storm  of  arrows 
and  missiles  announced  the  attack  of  Kilidge-Arslan. 
Bohemond  had  scarcely  arranged  his  people  for  battle 
when  the  Turks  were  upon  him.     With  their  lighter 

96 


Victory  of  DorylfPtim.  97 

armor  and  swifter  steeds,  they  circled  about  the  Chris- 
tians, delivering  volleys  of  arrows,  and  escaping  before 
the  assault  could  be  returned,  as  hawks  might  assail 
a  lion.  If  a  valiant  band  of  Christians  pursued  them 
they  dispersed  in  every  direction,  only  to  form  again 
in  a  circle  and  repeat  their  murderous  attack.  Many 
of  the  most  valiant  Christian  knights  fell  without 
being  able  to  return  a  stroke.  The  Turkish  numbers 
were  being  constantly  augmented  by  new  arrivals. 
Kilidge-Arslan,  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  his  braves, 
made  a  sudden  raid  upon  the  Christian  camp,  mas- 
sacring the  men  and  children  and  carrying  ofT  the 
women  for  his  seraglios. 

But  a  bitter  vengeance  was  taken.  Robert  of  Nor- 
mandy, snatching  his  white  banner,  drove  through  the 
densest  ranks  of  the  foe  with  the  watchword  of  "  Deus 
vult!"  followed  by  Tancred,  who  was  made  doubly 
valiant  by  having  seen  his  brother  William  fall,  pierced 
with  arrows.  The  captives  were  rescued,  but  the 
crusaders  were  exhausted,  and  retired  in  despair  be- 
hind the  stockade  of  their  camp.  At  noon,  however, 
the  air  was  rent  with  new  trumpet-calls.  The  hilltop 
shone  with  the  armor  of  the  knights  under  Godfrey. 
The  charge  of  this  redoubtable  warrior  and  fifty 
chosen  comrades  broke  upon  the  Turks  like  a  thun- 
derbolt. The  opportune  arrival  of  Rayinond  gave 
the  crusaders  fifty  thousand  fresh  horsemen,  who 
pursued  the  now  panic-stricken  enemy  over  the 
mountain.  Three  thousand  Turkish  officers  and  a 
measureless  multitude  of  men  were  slain.  .The  camp 
of  Kilidge-Arslan  was  taken,  and  the  crusaders  pur- 
sued their  way,  laden  with  provision  and  treasures. 


98  The  First  Crusade, 

Mounted  on  the  horses  of  their  foes,  they  pursued  the 
flying  remnant.  To  complete  the  enthusiasm  of  vic- 
tory, it  was  alleged  that  St.  George  and  St.  Demetrius 
had  been  seen  fighting  in  the  Christian  ranks.  For 
many  generations  the  peasants  of  that  neighborhood 
believed  that  once  a  year  St.  George,  on  horseback, 
with  lance  in  hand,  could  be  seen  by  the  worshippers 
in  the  little  church  which  was  erected  on  the  spot  to 
commemorate  his  timely  apparition. 

The  crusaders  marched  from  the  field  of  Dorylaeum 
to  new  terrors,  against  which  it  was  not  the  province 
of  sword  or  lance  to  contend.  The  scattered  Turks 
devastated  the  country  along  the  line  of  march. 
Neither  field  nor  bin  was  left  to  be  plundered. 
The  roots  of  wild  plants  were  at  times  the  only  food 
of  the  pursuers.  The  July  sun,  always  terrific  in  what 
the  ancients  called  "  burning  Phrygia,"  beat  upon 
them  with  unusual  balefulness.  Falcons,  which  the 
knights  had  brought  along  to  relieve  the  tedium  of 
the  journey,  fell  dead  from  their  masters'  arms. 
Many  women  gave  untimely  birth  to  offspring,  which 
perished  in  their  first  efforts  to  inhale  the  hot  atmo- 
sphere. Five  hundred  of  the  hapless  multitude  died 
between  a  sunrise  and  sunset.  One  day  some  dogs, 
which  had  wandered  off,  returned  with  moist  sand 
upon  their  paws  and  coats;  they  had  found  water. 
Following  the  trail  of  the  brutes,  the  soldiers  discov- 
ered a  mountain  stream.  The  men  plunged  into  it 
and  drank  so  abundantly  that  the  multitude  became 
water  drunk ;  thus  three  hundred  perished  with  the 
fever  flush  of  new-found  life. 

Passing  through  Cilicia,  the  advance  under  Tancred 


CapUcre  of  Tarsus — Baldwin  Seizes  Edessa.  99 

captured  Tarsus,  the  birthplace  of  St.  Paul.  But 
Baldwin,  brother  of  Godfrey,  contested  with  Tancred 
the  honor  of  its  possession  and  a  share  of  its  spoil. 
Tancred  refused  to  allow  either  his  own  men  or  those 
of  Baldwin  to  loot  the  place,  saying  that  he  had  not 
taken  arms  to  pillage  Christians.  His  flag  was  torn 
from  the  ramparts  and  flung  into  the  ditch.  By  a 
display  of  moral  courage  equal  to  his  physical  prowess, 
Tancred  restrained  his  resentment,  that  the  Christian 
host  might  not  be  divided.  Baldwin,  left  in  pos.ses- 
sion  of  a  part  of  the  town,  refused  admi.ssion  to  a 
company  of  crusaders,  who,  thus  left  exposed  without 
the  walls,  were  massacred  by  the  Turks.  Popular 
indignation  ran  high  against  Baldwin,  which  he 
ultimately  assuaged  by  taking  a  horrible  vengeance 
upon  the  Turks  remaining  in  Tarsus,  not  one  of  whom 
he  left  alive. 

The  crusaders  at  Tarsus  received  reinforcements 
by  the  arrival  of  a  fleet  of  P'lemish  and  Dutch  pirates, 
who,  by  the  bribe  of  expected  spoil,  were  induced  to 
sew  the  cross  upon  their  garments. 

Leaving  a  garrison  in  this  city,  Baldwin  followed 
eastward  in  the  track  of  Tancred,  whom  he  overtook 
at  Malmistra.  The  rage  of  the  soldiers  of  Tancred 
against  him  could  not  be  checked  by  the  mild  counsel 
of  their  leader,  whom  they  taunted  with  weakness. 
For  once  the  self-restraint  of  Tancred  gave  way. 
He  led  his  men  against  Baldwin.  A  pitched  battle 
ensued,  followed  on  the  morrow  by  the  embrace  of 
the  leaders  in  the  presence  of  their  troops,  and  vows 
to  expiate  their  mutual  ofTences  in  fresh  blood  of  the 
common  entmy. 


loo  The  First  Crusade. 

The  popularity  of  Tancred  ill  suited  the  ambition 
of  his  rival.  Baldwin,  seemingly  stung  by  the  with- 
drawal of  the  confidence  of  his  brethren,  nursed  the 
project  of  leaving  the  crusading  army  and  setting  up 
a  kingdom  for  himself.  He  offered  his  aid  to  Thoros, 
the  Armenian  Prince  of  Edessa,  in  Mesopotamia,  who 
was  at  that  time  warring  on  his  own  account  against 
the  Turks  beyond  the  Euphrates.  None  of  the 
crusading  chiefs  seconded  Baldwin's  project.  With 
eighty  knights  and  one  thousand  foot-soldiers,  he 
traversed  the  deserts.  Upon  his  arrival  at  Edessa,  in 
the  strange  custom  of  the  country  the  aged  Thoros 
and  his  wife  pressed  the  count  to  their  naked  breasts, 
thus  acknowledging  him  as  son  by  adoption.  The 
fable  of  him  who  had  warmed  a  serpent  in  his  bosom 
only  to  feel  its  sting  was  repeated  in  this  case.  With 
Baldwin's  knowledge,  if  not  with  his  connivance,  an 
insurrection  was  stirred  against  Thoros,  which  resulted 
in  his  being  flung  from  the  wall  of  his  own  castle. 

Baldwin,  thus  installed  in  chief  authority,  confirmed 
his  hold  upon  the  people  by  marrying  an  Armenian 
princess.  All  Mesopotamia  acknowledged  him,  and 
a  Prankish  knight  was  seen  reigning  on  the  Euphrates 
over  the  richest  part  of  ancient  Assyria. 

The  defection  of  Baldwin  was  not  ultimately  det- 
rimental to  the  crusades,  since  his  kingdom  made  a 
barrier  on  the  north  and  east  against  the  Turkish  and 
Saracenic  hordes,  and  prevented  their  interfering  more 
readily  with  the  Christians'  march  upon  Jerusalem, 
of  which  Baldwin  himself  was  one  day  to  be  king. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


BEFORE  ANTIOCH. 


HE  crusading  hosts  passed,  with  incredible 
toil  and  suffering,  through  the  remainder 
of  Asia  Minor.  The  perils  of  the  Taurus 
chain  of  mountains  nearly  brought  them 
to  despair.  Borne  down  with  their  heavy 
arms,  encumbered  with  thousands  of  women  and  chil- 
dren, they  passed  along  paths  which  the  practised  feet 
of  mountaineers  were  alone  fitted  to  tread.  In  the 
defiles  were  left  many  who  could  not  climb  the  pre- 
cipitous rocks,  which  thus  became  the  walls  of  their 
tomb.  At  the  base  of  the  palisades  were  heaps  of 
armor,  which  their  wearers  were  too  spiritless  to  re- 
cover. But  in  spite  of  the  despair  of  many,  the  lead- 
ers evidently  did  not  leave  the  spoil  of  war  to  rust  or 
decay  in  the  canons  of  the  Taurus.  Stephen  of  Blois 
wrote  to  his  wife  a  few  weeks  later  than  the  events 
we  are  describing :  "  You  may  know  for  certain,  my 
beloved,  that  of  gold,  silver,  and  many  other  kinds 
of  riches  I  now  have  twice  as  much  as  your  love  had 
assigned  to  me  when  I  left  you." 

At  length  the  survivors  emerged  to  look  down  from 
the  mountains  upon  the  borders  of  Syria.     The  sight 


102  The  First  Crusade. 

inspired  them  as  that  from  Pisgah  did  the  invader  of 
old.  Courage  revived,  and  with  joy  they  hastened 
southward.  Hard  by  was  the  battle-field  of  Issus, 
where  Alexander  the  Great,  the  man  from  the  West, 
had  broken  the  power  of  the  East  under  Xerxes — an 
omen  of  its  repetition.  Soon  Antioch,  the  city  built 
to  commemorate  the  fame  of  Antiochus,  one  of  Alex- 
ander's generals,  stood  before  them.  The  rumor  of 
their  invincibility  had  served  the  crusaders  in  the  stead 
of  battles,  and  October  21,  1097,  they  sat  down  un- 
molested for  the  siege  of  the  Syrian  capital. 

This  city,  where  a  thousand  years  before  believers 
were  first  called  Christians,  still  wore  in  the  reverence 
of  all  the  world  the  honor  of  that  initial  christening. 
It  was  called  the  "  Eldest  Daughter  of  Sion,"  and  was 
the  seat  of  one  of  the  original  patriarchates  into  which 
the  early  church  was  divided.  It  had  been  the  third 
city  of  the  Roman  world,  and  those  who  were  unim- 
pressed with  its  sacred  story  could  imagine  its  splen- 
dor when  it  was  called  the  "Queen  of  the  East." 
Paganism  once  worshipped  obscene  divinities  in  its 
famous  groves  of  Daphne.  About  it  still  stood  the 
enormous  wall  built  by  the  Emperor  Justinian  five 
hundred  years  before,  on  every  tower  of  which  were 
mementos  of  sieges  when  it  had  been  captured  alter- 
nately by  Saracen  and  Greek,  and  now,  but  thirteen 
years  before  the  crusaders*  coming,  by  Solyman,  the 
Turk. 

The  natural  defences  of  Antioch,  supplemented  by 
those  of  art,  made  it  impregnable,  except  to  the  en- 
thusiastic faith  of  such  men  as  now  essayed  its  cap- 
ture.    On  the  north  it  was  guarded  by  the  river 


llic  Crusaders  before  Antioch.         103 


Orontes,  on  the  south  by  natural  heights  of  several 
hundred  feet,  on  the  west  by  the  great  citadel,  and 
on  the  east  by  a  castle.  The  wall  which  bound  to- 
gether the  various  fortifications  was  nine  miles  in  ex- 
tent, strengthened  by  three  hundred  and  sixty  towers. 
A  deep  cleft  in  the  southern  height  poured  a  moun- 
tain torrent  through  the  city  to  the  Orontes.  Accian, 
grandson  of  Malck-Shah,  had  twenty  thousand  Turks 
within  the  walls,  who  behind  such  battlements  were 
presumably  the  match  for  the  three  hundred  thousand 
crusaders  who  are  said  to  have  been  without. 

To  the  sanguine  enthusiasm  of  the  Christians  the 
city  seemed  like  a  ripened  fruit  ready  to  fall  into  the 
hand  at  a  touch.  Guards  appeared  upon  the  walls, 
but  the  challenge  of  their  camps  provoked  no  re- 
sponse. This  the  Christians  interpreted  as  a  sign  of 
the  feebleness  and  dismay  of  the  garrison.  They 
were  disposed  to  wait  for  the  fruit  to  fall  of  itself. 
The  genial  influence  of  the  climate  soon  wrought  its 
softness  into  nerve  and  spirit.  Discipline  was  relaxed  ; 
knights  whose  shields  showed  many  a  dent  of  conflict 
spent  the  hours  among  the  vineyards,  where  the 
luscious  clusters  still  hung  upon  their  stems.  Ad- 
venture found  its  pastime  in  discovering  the  vaults 
in  which  the  peasants  had  hidden  their  grain.  If 
we  could  believe  the  theory  that  good  and  evil  people 
leave  in  the  places  they  frequent  an  atmosphere  of 
virtue  or  vice,  to  invigorate  or  infect  the  souls  of  those 
who  come  after  them,  we  might  think  that  the  soldiers 
of  the  cross  had  succumbed  to  the  influence  of  the 
votaries  of  Venus  and  Adonis,  who  anciently  revelled 
in  the  grove  of  Daphne  ;  for  the  Christian  host  became 


104  '^^^^  First  Crusade. 

infatuated  with  unseemly  pleasures ;  they  were  given 
over  to  intemperance  and  debauchery.  An  arch- 
deacon was  not  ashamed  to  be  seen  in  dalliance  with 
a  Syrian  nymph. 

If  the  leaders  did  not  yield  to  the  prevalent  vice, 
they  seem  to  have  been  infected  with  that  intellectual 
dulness  and  lethargy  of  purpose  which  follows  license. 
They  neglected  to  prepare  their  siege  machinery,  and 
when  a  momentary  enthusiasm  led  them  to  attack 
the  walls  they  paid  for  their  temerity  with  failure. 
The  enemy  became  correspondingly  emboldened,  and 
retaliated  with  fearful  forays  through  the  Christian 
lines.  With  the  approach  of  winter  the  crusaders 
had  exhausted  their  provisions,  and  the  country  about 
furnished  no  more.  Heavy  rainfalls  reduced  their 
camps  to  sv/amps,  in  which  the  bow  lost  its  stiffness, 
and  the  body  its  vigor,  making  the  men  the  prey 
of  diseases  which  kept  them  busy  burying  their  dead. 

Stories  of  disasters  to  the  cause  elsewhere  floated 
to  them,  until  the  air  seemed  laden  with  evil  omens. 
Sweno,  Prince  of  Denmark,  had  advanced  through 
Cappadocia.  At  his  side  was  Florine,  daughter  of 
Count  Eudes  of  Burgundy,  his  afifianced  bride.  To- 
gether they  fought  their  way  through  countless 
swarms  of  Turks,  until,  with  all  their  attendant 
knights,  they  were  slain.  The  body  of  this  heroic 
woman  showed  that  seven  arrows  had  penetrated  her 
armor.  News  also  came  that  fleets  of  Pisans  and 
Genoese,  their  allies,  had  withdrawn  from  the  coast, 
lured  by  better  prospects  of  gain  than  in  bringing 
succor  to  what  seemed  a  ruined  cause. 

Such  was  the  moral  depression  that  Robert  of  Nor- 


Dtscoicrageme7it  of  the  Christians.      105 

mandy  deserted  for  a  while,  until  shame  brought  him 
back.  His  example  was  followed  even  by  Peter  the 
Hermit,  "  a  star  fallen  from  heaven,"  says  Guibert, 
the  eye-witness  and  chronicler.  Peter,  however,  re- 
turned at  the  entreaty  of  Tancred,  whose  heart  was 
as  true  in  trouble  as  his  eye  was  keen  in  the  melee. 
The  Hermit  was  made  to  take  oath  never  again  to 
desert  the  cause  he  had  once  so  eloquently  proclaimed. 
The  piety  of  Adhemar,  Bishop  of  Puy,  instituted  fasts 
and  penitential  processions  around  the  camp,  to  purge 
it  of  iniquity  and  to  avert  the  wrath  of  Heaven.  The 
practical  judgment  of  the  chieftains  enacted  terrible 
punishments  to  curb  the  unreasoning  debauchery. 
The  drunkard  was  cropped  of  his  hair,  the  gambler 
branded  with  a  hot  iron,  the  adulterer  stripped  naked 
and  beaten  in  the  presence  of  the  camp.  The  Syrian 
spies  who  were  caught  were,  by  order  of  Bohemond, 
spitted  and  roasted,  and  this  proclamation  was  posted 
over  them  :  "  In  this  manner  all  spies  shall  make  meat 
for  us  with  their  bodies." 

About  this  time  there  arrived  in  the  camp  an  em- 
bassy from  the  caliph  of  Egypt.  The  race  of  AH 
hated  the  Turks  as  the  usurpers  of  the  headship  of 
their  faith,  and  proposed  alliance  with  the  Christians 
to  expel  them  from  Jerusalem.  They  stipulated  for 
themselves  the  sovereignty  of  Palestine,  and  would 
grant  to  the  disciples  of  Jesus  perpetual  privilege  of 
pilgrimage  to  the  sacred  places.  If  this  offer  of  the 
caliph  was  declined,  the  ambassadors  presented  the 
alternative  of  war,  not  only  with  the  Turks,  but  with 
the  combined  Saracen  world  from  Gibraltar  to  Bag- 
dad.    The  Christian  reply  was  bold.     Their  orators 


io6  The  First  Crusade. 

taunted  the  Egyptians  with  the  diabolical  cruelty  they 
had  once  practised  when  Jerusalem  was  under  Hakim, 
and  declared  that  they  would  brave  the  wrath  of  the 
Moslem  world  rather  than  permit  a  stone  of  the  sacred 
city  to  be  possessed  by  an  enemy  of  their  faith.  This 
reply  was  saved  from  seeming  bravado  by  an  oppor- 
tune victory.  Bohemond  and  Raymond  met  and  cut 
to  pieces  a  Moslem  force  of  twenty  thousand  horse- 
men, who  were  advancing  from  the  north  for  the 
relief  of  Antioch.  As  the  ambassadors  of  Egypt 
were  embarking,  they  were  presented  with  four 
camel-loads  of  human  heads,  to  impress  their  master 
with  the  sincerity  of  the  Christian  boast,  while  hun- 
dreds more  of  these  ghastly  tokens  were  stuck  upon 
pikes  before  the  walls  or  flung  by  the  ballistas  into 
the  city  to  terrorize  the  defendants. 

The  fearfulness  of  their  extremity  animated  the 
courage  of  the  Turks  as  it  had  often  done  that  of  the 
Christians ;  for  brave  hearts  are  the  same,  under  what- 
ever faith  and  culture.  They  sallied  from  the  gates, 
which  by  the  orders  of  Accian  were  closed  behind 
them  until  they  should  return  as  victors.  At  night- 
fall, however,  but  few  lived  to  seek  the  entrance. 

Their  valor  was  doubtless  as  fine  as  that  of  the 
Christians,  the  exploits  of  whose  leaders  have  come 
to  us  in  story  and  song.  Tancred's  deeds  were  so 
great  that,  either  from  excessive  modesty  or  the  fear 
that  nobody  would  believe  such  wonders,  he  exacted 
a  promise  of  his  squire  never  to  tell  what  his  master 
had  wrought.  If  his  great  actions  were  like  most 
reported  of  his  comrades,  we  can  admire  his  wisdom 
as  well  as  his  humility ;  for  the  legends  of  the  battle 


Exploits — Battles  of  Ch  ildrxji.         i  o  7 

tell,  among  other  wonders,  of  a  monster  Turk  who 
was  cloven  in  twain  b}'  the  swortl  of  Godfrey,  and 
one  half  of  whose  lifeless  body  rode  his  charger  back 
to  the  gate.  A  less  glorious  exploit  is  mentioned. 
The  Christians  rifled  by  night  the  new-made  graves 
of  the  Moslems,  and  paraded  the  next  day  in  the 
clothes  of  the  fallen  braves,  carrying  upon  their  pikes 
instead  of  garlands  fifteen  hundred  heads  they  had 
severed  from  the  corpses.  A  more  romantic  scene 
makes  a  pleasant  foil  to  this :  the  children  of  either 
side,  drilled  by  their  seniors,  engaged  in  battle  in 
presence  of  both  armies.  Hands  that  could  not  use 
the  sword  thrust  with  the  dagger,  and  the  poisoned 
tip  of  the  arrow  was  not  less  deadly  because  it  was 
sent  from  a  tiny  bow. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE   FALL    OF    ANTIOCH. 

FTER  seven  months  of  valorous  assault 
and  defence,  Antioch  at  length  was  gained. 
It  fell,  however,  not  as  the  prize  of  honor- 
able conquest,  but  as  the  price  of  treach- 
ery, disgraceful  to  both  those  within  and 
those  without  the  walls.  Phirous,  an  Armenian 
Christian,  had  abjured  his  faith  in  order  to  secure 
promotion  in  the  Turkish  service.  In  reward  he  was 
given  position,  and  now  commanded  three  of  the 
principal  towers.  Divining  a  similar,  if  not  equal, 
unconscionableness  in  Bohemond,  Phirous  made 
known  to  him  his  willingness  to  recant  his  new  vows 
as  a  Moslem  and  again  betray  his  trust  for  larger  re- 
ward in  the  Christian  ranks.  Bohemond  announced 
to  the  other  chiefs  his  possession  of  a  secret  by  which 
Antioch  might  easily  be  taken,  but  refused  to  reveal 
it  except  upon  their  agreement  to  assign  to  him  the 
independent  sovereignty  of  the  Syrian  capital.  The 
proposal  at  first  met  with  the  contempt  and  rage  of 
his  fellow-leaders,  which  were  expressed  to  his  face 
in  the  hot  words  of  Raymond,  who  declared  that 
Bohemond  proposed  to  "  repay  with  the  conquests 

io8 


Treachery  of  PhU'ous.  109 


of  valor  some  shameful  artifice  worthy  of  women." 
Bohcmond  was  as  brazen  as  he  was  brave,  and  en- 
dured this  insult.  Reports  became  rife  that  Ker- 
bogha,  Sultan  of  Mosul,  was  advancing  to  the  relief 
of  his  coreligionists.  Bohcmond,  through  his  emis- 
saries, magnified  the  alarm  until  the  besiegers  antici- 
pated the  attack  of  an  army  of  two  hundred  thou- 
sand, whose  cimeters  were  dripping  with  the  blood 
of  victory  over  all  the  peoples  west  of  the  Euphrates. 
Under  this  menace  the  chiefs  chose  the  valor  of  dis- 
cretion, and,  not  without  lamentation  at  the  shameful 
necessity,  yielded  to  the  ambition  of  their  comrade. 

The  scheme  of  Phirous  came  near  miscarriage  at 
the  very  moment  of  execution.  Accian,  the  com- 
mandant at  Antioch,  suspicious  of  treachery,  ordered 
all  the  Christians  in  the  city  to  be  seized  and  mas- 
sacred that  very  night.  Summoning  Phirous,  he 
subjected  him  to  severest  examination,  but  the 
shrewdness  of  the  wretch  completely  veiled  his  du- 
plicity. Phirous  tried  to  induce  his  own  brother  to 
join  him  in  his  treachery.  The  man  refused,  and, 
lest  he  should  reveal  the  plot,  Phirous  plunged  his 
dagger  to  his  heart. 

A  comet,  which  had  appeared  in  the  early  evening 
sky,  was  regarded  as  an  omen  favorable  to  the  scheme. 
The  subsequent  dense  darkness  of  the  night  and  the 
roar  of  sudden  storm  shielded  the  forms  and  drowned 
the  footfalls  of  the  plotters.  At  a  given  signal  Phirous 
dropped  from  the  wall  a  ladder  of  leather,  which  was 
quickly  mounted  by  one  of  Bohemond's  men.  As 
the  traitor  Phirous  stood  by  the  parapet  conversing 
with  the  intruders,  he  was  startled  by  the  glare  of  a 


1 1  o  The  First  Crusade. 

lantern  in  the  hand  of  an  officer  making  his  round  of 
inspection,  but  his  ready  tact  diverted  suspicion.  The 
agent  of  Bohemond  descended  the  ladder  and  reported 
all  in  readiness  for  the  assault;  but  the  Christians 
were  held  back  by  a  strange  spell.  Men  who  were 
accustomed  to  brave  death  without  a  question  at  the 
command  of  their  princes,  could  not  be  prevailed  upon 
by  either  threatening  or  promise  to  venture  into  this 
unknown  danger.  Moral  courage  is  the  strongest 
stimulus  to  physical  daring,  and  this  treacherous 
project  failed  to  supply  the  heroic  incentive.  Bohe- 
mond himself  was  compelled  to  set  the  perilous  ex- 
ample ;  but  no  one  followed  until  he  descended  to 
assure  them  by  his  presence  that  he  had  not  fallen 
into  some  deadly  trap.  Then  one  by  one  the  bravest 
knights,  such  as  Foulcher  of  Chartres  and  the  Count 
of  Flanders,  emulated  Bohemond's  bravery.  The 
parapet  was  overweighted  by  the  assailants,  who  were 
massed  upon  its  edge,  and  gave  way,  precipitating 
many  upon  the  lance-points  of  those  below  them. 
But  the  thunders  of  the  storm  drowned  the  crash  of 
the  falling  masonry.  Securing  the  three  towers  of 
Phirous's  command,  the  crusaders  opened  the  city 
gates  to  the  dense  ranks  that  waited  without. 

With  the  cry  of  "  Deus  vult!  Deus  vult!"  the  in- 
furiated multitude  poured  into  the  city.  The  Mos- 
lems, as  they  came  from  their  homes  and  barracks 
at  the  rude  awakening,  were  slaughtered  without 
having  time  for  resistance.  Through  all  houses  not 
marked  by  some  symbol  of  the  Christian  faith  the 
crusaders  raged ;  cruelty  and  lust  knew  no  restraint. 
The  dawn  revealed  over  six  thousand  corpses  in  the 


Capture  of  Antioch.  1 1 1 

streets.  Accian  escaped  the  Christian  soldiers,  only 
to  meet  a  less  honorable  death  at  the  hands  of  a 
woodman  while  in  flight  through  the  forest.  Thirous 
was  abundantly  rewarded  for  his  treachery,  but  two 
years  later  he  recmbraced  Moslemism  in  expectation 
of  larger  gains.  In  the  anathemas  of  Christian  and 
paynim  he  was  consigned  to  the  hell  in  which  both 
beheved. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE    HOLY    LANCE. 

IJHE  elation  of  the  crusaders  over  the  pos- 
session of  Antioch  was  of  briefest  dura- 
tion. Their  three  days'  license,  in  the 
enjoyment  of  what  they  had  so  inglori- 
ously  won,  was  terminated  on  the  fourth 
day  by  fearful  menace.  Kerbogha  was  really  coming. 
To  his  own  veteran  experience  he  added  the  wisdom 
of  the  most  redoubtable  sultans  and  emirs  of  Syria, 
Asia  Minor,  and  Persia,  who  commanded  an  army 
of  one  hundred  thousand  horse  and  three  hundred 
thousand  foot.  So  stealthily  had  they  approached 
that  the  news  was  conveyed  to  the  Christians  only 
by  their  observing  from  the  walls  the  advance  of  the 
mighty  host  as  it  dashed  through  the  camps  but 
recently  consecrated  to  the  cross.  Quickly  the  Mos- 
lems completed  their  investment  of  the  city.  The 
Christians  could  make  no  foray  over  the  fields,  and 
no  provisions  were  allowed  to  reach  them  from  the 
port.  To  add  to  their  fears,  the  citadel  of  Antioch 
had  not  fallen  into  their  hands  with  the  rest  of  the 
city,  and  was  still  occupied  by  watchful  foes.  They 
were  thus  assailed  from  without  and  from  within  the 
walls. 

112 


Kerbogha  Invests  Antioch.  1 13 


The  gay  robes,  costly  gems,  and  arms  wliich  the 
Christians  had  taken  were  no  compensation  for  the 
lack  of  provisions.  Godfrey  paid  fifteen  silver  marks 
for  the  flesh  of  a  half-starved  camel.  Knights  killed 
for  meat  the  proud  chargers  they  loved  oftentimes 
more  than  they  did  their  companions  in  arms,  who 
were  now  their  greedy  contestants  for  what  scanty 
provision  remained.  Common  soldiers  gnawed  the 
leather  off  shoes  and  shields,  and  some  dug  from  the 
graves  and  devoured  the  putrid  flesh  of  the  Turks  they 
had  slain.  We  might  doubt  this  horrible  deed  were  not 
similar  acts  of  cannibalism  confessed  by  Godfrey  and 
Raymond  in  a  letter  to  the  Pope,  written  a  year  later. 
Every  morning  revealed  the  numbers  of  those  who 
had  deserted  during  the  night,  among  whom  were 
some  of  the  most  famous  warriors,  such  as  the  counts 
of  Melun  and  Blois  and  Chartres.  In  the  general 
despair  even  faith  gave  way.  Men  cursed  the  God 
who  had  deserted  them  while  they  were  defending 
His  cause,  and  the  priests  hesitated  to  perform  the 
rites  of  religion  among  a  people  who  had  become  as 
infidel  as  the  foe  they  sought  to  destroy. 

The  Greek  emperor,  Alexius,  started  out  from 
Constantinople  with  an  army,  but  upon  hearing  of 
the  desperate  straits  of  the  Latins  returned,  leaving 
them  to  their  fate.  The  Christians,  it  is  said,  offered 
to  capitulate  to  Kerbogha  upon  condition  of  being 
permitted  to  return  to  Europe  in  abandonment  of  the 
crusades.  Godfrey  and  Adhemar,  the  one  in  the  name 
of  all  that  was  valiant  among  men,  the  other  as  the 
representative  of  the  Pope,  presumably  speaking  for 
Heaven,  remonstrated  in  v^in.    The  refusal  of  even 


1 14  The  First  Cj'usade. 

so  much  mercy  by  the  Moslems  alone  prevented  the 
consummation  of  this  disgrace.  The  warriors  who  had 
won  the  applause  of  Europe  then  sat  sullenly  in  their 
houses  and  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to  fight  along 
the  walls,  believing  that  additional  wounds  would 
only  protract  their  woe  without  averting  the  final 
catastrophe. 

In  this  hour  of  abject  despair  the  besieged  were 
reinspirited  by  an  occasion  which  is  as  much  the 
marvel  of  the  psychologist  as  of  the  historian.  In 
the  prostration  of  bodily  nature  through  hunger  and 
disease,  imagination  often  tyrannizes  the  faculties. 
Man  becomes  the  prey  of  unrealities ;  his  dreams 
create  a  new  world,  generally  of  terror,  but  often  of 
hope.  Then  it  is  that  the  demons  and  angels  of 
theory  materialize  into  seeming  facts.  Thus  the 
emaciated  men  in  the  beleaguered  camp  were  ready 
to  believe  the  story  of  a  priest,  who  related  that 
Christ  had  appeared  to  him,  denouncing  destruction 
upon  His  faithless  followers,  but  that  at  the  interces- 
sion of  the  Virgin  Mary  the  Lord  was  appeased,  and 
promised  immediate  victory  if  the  soldiers  of  His  cross 
would  once  more  valiantly  endeavor  to  merit  it.  At 
the  same  time  two  deserters  returned  to  the  camp, 
relating  how  the  Saviour  had  met  them  and  turned 
them  back  from  flight.  But  the  crowning  miracle 
was  revealed  to  the  priest,  Peter  Barthelemi.  St. 
Andrew  appeared  to  him  and  said,  "  Go  to  the  church 
of  my  brother  St.  Peter  in  Antioch.  Near  the  prin- 
cipal altar  you  will  find,  by  digging  into  the  earth,  the 
iron  head  of  the  lance  which  pierced  the  side  of  our 
Redeemer.     Within  three  days  this   instrument  of 


The  Holy  Laiicc.  1 1 5 

salvation  shall  be  manifested  to  His  disciples.  This 
mystical  iron,  borne  at  the  head  of  the  army,  shall 
eflfcct  the  deliverance  of  the  Christians  and  shall  pierce 
the  hearts  of  the  Infidels."  For  two  days  the  people 
fasted  ;  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day  twelve  trusty 
knights  and  ecclesiastics  dw^  at  the  appointed  spot, 
while  the  miillitude  remained  in  silence  and  prayer 
about  the  church.  All  day  long  they  waited.  At 
midnight  there  was  no  response  to  their  expectation. 
As  the  twelve  ceased  their  labors,  and  were  bowed  in 
renewed  petition  around  the  excavation,  Peter  Barthe- 
lemi  suddenly  leaped  into  the  hole.  In  a  moment 
he  reappeared  bearing  a  lance-head  in  his  hands. 
The  news  spread  through  the  city  as  if  shouted  by 
angels.  The  effect  upon  the  desponding  minds  of  the 
soldiers  was  like  the  revival  of  life  in  the  dead  bodies 
of  Ezekiel's  valley  of  vision.  Some,  it  is  true,  shook 
their  heads,  or,  like  Foulcher  of  Chartres,  declared 
that  the  lance  had  been  concealed  by  Barthelemi  in 
the  designated  place.  Whether  really  credulous,  or 
shrewd  enough  to  try  any  new  expedient,  the  leaders 
were  loudest  in  heralding  the  discovery  as  miracu- 
lous. 

Peter  the  Hermit  was  sent  to  announce  to  the 
Moslems  the  decree  of  Heaven  for  their  immediate 
overthrow.  Sultan  Kerbogha,  however,  proved  a 
match  for  the  zealot  in  vituperative  bravado  and 
religious  devotion.  He  haughtily  declared  but  one 
condition  of  his  raising  the  siege,  namely,  the  ac- 
knowledgment by  the  Christians  that  "  Allah  is  great, 
and  Mohammed  is  His  prophet."  "  Bid  thy  com- 
panions," said  he  to  Peter,  "  take  advantage  of  my 


1 1 6  The  First  Crusade. 

clemency ;  to-morrow  they  shall  leave  Antioch  only 
under  the  sword.  They  will  then  see  if  their  cruci- 
fied God,  who  could  not  save  Himself  from  the  cross, 
can  save  them  from  the  fate  I  have  prepared  for 
them."  With  that  he  drove  Peter  and  his  band  of 
deputies  back  to  their  walls. 

The  Christians  ate  that  night  what  they  deliber- 
ately called  their  last  supper  in  Antioch.  With  the 
remnant  of  bread  and  wine  they  celebrated  mass.  At 
dawn  the  city  gates  were  thrown  open,  and  in  twelve 
divisions  the  host  marched  out,  following  the  standard 
of  the  Holy  Lance.  The  clergy  went  first,  as  in  the 
days  of  Jehoshaphat,  singing  their  faith  in  coming 
victory.  The  words  of  the  psalm,  "  Let  God  arise, 
and  let  His  enemies  be  scattered,"  seemed  to  be  an- 
swered by  invisible  hosts  on  the  mountains,  who  took 
up  the  crusaders'  war-cry  of  "  Deus  vult!"  Excited 
imaginations  saw  the  mountains  filled  with  the  chariots 
of  the  Lord,  as  in  the  days  of  Elisha.  But  to  the  eye 
of  flesh  the  Christian  host  presented  a  sorry  spectacle. 
Many  limped  with  wounds  or  trudged  slowly  from 
weakness ;  most  were  in  rags,  many  were  stark  naked. 
The  prancing  charger  had  been  changed  for  a  camel 
or  ass,  and  many  a  knight  was  reduced  to  the  con- 
dition of  a  foot-soldier,  and  shouldered  his  spear. 

Sultan  Kerbogha  haughtily  refused  to  leave  a  game 
of  chess  he  was  playing,  to  listen  to  what  he  supposed 
would  be  an  entreaty  for  mercy  from  the  entire 
Christian  army,  that  was  coming  to  throw  itself  at  his 
feet;  but  he  was  soon  undeceived.  With  sudden 
dash,  Count  Hugh  attacked  and  cut  to  pieces  two 
thousand  of  the  enemy  who  guarded  the  bridge  before 


Kcrbogha  Routed.  1 1 7 

the  city.  The  main  body  of  Christians  formed  against 
the  mountains  and,  thus  shielded  from  a  rear  attack, 
advanced  steadily  upon  the  foe.  The  surprise  of 
Kerbogha  did  not  prevent  that  experienced  soldier 
from  seeing  the  advantage  gained  by  his  assailants. 
Under  flag  of  truce  he  proposed  to  decide  the  issue 
by  battle  between  an  equal  number  of  braves  selected 
from  either  side.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  Christian 
host  forbade  such  a  limitation  of  the  honor  of  attain- 
ing what  seemed  to  all  a  certain  victory.  Heaven 
gave  manifest  token  of  favor  in  a  strong  wind,  that 
sped  the  missiles  of  the  crusaders,  while  it  retarded 
those  of  their  foes.  In  vain  did  Kerbogha  storm 
them  in  front,  while  Kilidge-Arslan,  having  climbed 
the  mountain,  attacked  their  rear.  The  Turks  had 
fired  the  bushes  to  bewilder  the  Christians,  but 
through  a  dense  smoke  there  appeared  a  squadron 
descending  the  mountains,  led  by  three  horsemen  in 
white  and  lustrous  armor.  These  were  recognized 
as  St.  George,  St.  Demetrius,  and  St.  Theodore,  the 
same  materialized  spirits  that  had  been  seen  upon 
the  plains  of  Nicaea.  With  a  superhuman  fury  and 
strength,  the  Christians  broke  upon  the  Moslems  as 
a  tornado  upon  a  forest,  making  through  the  opposing 
ranks  a  path  of  utter  destruction.  When  this  breath 
of  heaven  had  passed  one  hundred  thousand  Infidels 
lay  dead  upon  the  field.  Fifteen  thousand  camels,  a 
proportionate  number  of  horses,  immense  stores  of 
provisions,  and  priceless  treasures  enriched  the  victors. 
The  tent  of  Kerbogha,  capable  of  covering  over  two 
thousand  persons,  glowing  like  a  vast  gem  with  jewels 
and  tapestries,  was  taken  and  sent  to  Italy,  where  the 


1 1 8  The  First  Crusade. 

sight  of  it  inflamed  the  greed  of  new  bands  of  cru- 
saders. 

Those  who  are  disincHned  to  beheve  in  the  hea- 
venly portents  that  aided  the  Christians  may  content 
themselves  with  the  explanation  which  the  Moslem 
writers  give  of  their  defeat.  They  relate  that  the 
Arabs  had  quarrelled  with  the  Turks,  and  retired  from 
the  field  before  the  battle ;  that  the  latter  pursued 
their  coreligionists  more  bitterly  than  they  fought  the 
common  enemy.  The  credulity  of  the  Christians  also 
abated  when  they  discovered  that  the  camps  of  Ker- 
bogha  were  more  adorned  than  fortified.  Then,  too, 
they  recalled  the  skill  and  courage  of  their  own  as- 
sault, and  listened  to  the  thousand  stories  of  the 
Christians'  exploit  from  the  lips  of  the  performers. 
Pride,  if  not  reason,  triumphed  over  superstition,  and 
the  Holy  Lance  fell  into  disparagement.  A  letter 
from  the  leaders  to  Pope  Urban,  written  from  Antioch 
just  after  this  battle  acknowledged  that  the  divine 
weapon  "  restored  our  strength  and  courage  " ;  but 
the  writers  are  more  particular  to  tell  how  "  we  had 
learned  the  tactics  of  the  foe  "  and,  "  by  the  grace  and 
mercy  of  God,  succeeded  in  making  them  unite  at 
one  point."  Later  the  Christian  host  was  divided 
into  two  parties,  who  contended  violently  for  and 
against  the  credibility  of  the  miracle.  Normans  and 
the  crusaders  from  the  north  of  France  were  ration- 
alistically  inclined,  while  the  men  from  the  south 
adhered  to  the  story  as  told  by  their  geographical 
representative,  Peter  Barthelemi,  the  priest  from 
Marseilles,  who  had  discovered  the  sacred  symbol. 
The  veracity  of  Peter  was  finally  subjected  to  trial 


The  Holy  Lance  Discredited.  119 

by  Ordeal.  A  vast  pile  of  olive-branches  was  erected, 
A  passage  several  feet  in  width  was  left  through  the 
middle  of  the  heap.  When  the  wood  had  been  fired, 
Peter  appeared,  bearing  the  Holy  Lance.  As  he  faced 
the  flames  a  herald  cried,  "  If  this  man  has  seen  Jesus 
Christ  face  to  face,  and  if  the  Apostle  Andrew  did 
reveal  to  him  the  divine  lance,  may  he  pass  safe  and 
sound  through  the  flames ;  but  if,  on  the  contrary, 
he  be  guilty  of  falsehood,  may  he  be  burned."  The 
assembled  host  bowed  and  answered,  "  Amen." 
Peter  ran  with  his  best  speed  down  the  fiery  aisle. 
The  furious  heat  impeded  him.  He  seemed  to  have 
fallen,  and  disappeared  amid  the  crackling  branches 
and  smoke.  At  length,  however,  he  emerged  at  the 
other  end  of  the  flaming  a\'enue  amid  the  cries  of  his 
partisans,  "A  miracle!  a  miracle!"  Yet  the  test 
was  indecisive,  for,  while  Peter  succeeded  in  running 
the  gantlet,  he  was  terribly  burned,  and  was  carried 
in  mortal  agony  to  the  tent  of  Raymond,  where  a  few 
days  later  he  expired.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  from 
that  time  the  Holy  Lance  wrought  no  more  miracles, 
even  in  the  credulity  of  its  most  reverent  adorers. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


ON   TO   JERUSALEM. 


^i-^E^ 

s 

1 

HE  zeal  of  the  mass  of  crusaders  urged 
them  to  an  immediate  advance  upon  Jeru- 
salem. This,  however,  was  opposed  by 
the  discretion  of  Godfrey,  who  predicted 
the  hardship  of  the  campaign  in  a  Syrian 
midsummer.  The  evident  dissensions  among  the 
Moslems  and  their  apathy  in  further  warfare,  if  they 
gave  opportunity  for  rapid  conquest  by  the  Christians, 
at  the  same  time  allayed  the  feeling  of  necessity  for 
immediate  advance.  It  was  therefore  resolved  to 
postpone  the  enterprise  southward  until  November. 
While  waiting  for  the  order  to  march,  an  epidemic 
broke  out  in  the  camps,  which  was  more  fatal  than 
would  have  been  any  perils  of  the  journey.  Upward 
of  fifty  thousand  perished  in  a  month,  among  them 
Adhemar,  Bishop  of  Puy,  the  special  representative 
of  the  Holy  Father,  and  the  spiritual  head  of  the 
crusade.  Idleness  also  engendered  strife  among 
brethren.  Bohemond  and  Raymond  threatened  each 
other  with  the  sword.  Common  soldiers  fought  in 
opposing  bands  for  the  possession  of  the  booty  cap- 
tured in  their  raids.  Restless  spirits,  disgusted  with 
the  general  apathy,  joined  Baldwin,  now  the  master 


The  Crusaders  Enter  Palestiiic.        1 2 1 

of  Edessa.  Some  made  alliance  with  such  Moslems 
as  were  at  war  with  their  fellow-Moslems.  Even 
Godfrey  fought  for  the  emir  of  Hezas  against  Re- 
dowan,  Sultan  of  Alepi)o. 

Heaven  also  seemed  to  have  become  impatient  at 
the  inaction  of  the  crusaders.  A  luminous  mass,  as 
if  all  the  stars  had  combined  their  fires,  like  a  sus- 
pended thunderbolt,  glared  down  from  the  sky  upon 
the  quiet  ramparts  of  Antioch.  Suddenly  it  burst 
and  scattered  in  sparks  through  the  air.  Did  it  mean 
that  God  was  about  to  thus  disperse  the  Christians, 
or  that  He  would  scatter  their  enemies  ?  The  omen, 
though  not  clearly  interpreted,  sufficed  to  rouse  the 
indolent  host. 

Raymond  and  Bohemond,  with  worthy  compeers, 
assaulted  Maarah,  between  Hamath  and  Aleppo.  A 
novelty  of  the  defence  of  this  place  was  the  hurling 
upon  the  assailants  of  hives  filled  with  stinging  bees. 
The  resistance  of  the  inhabitants,  however,  proved 
unavailing,  and  was  punished  by  their  indiscriminate 
massacre  when  the  city  had  been  gained.  A  dispute 
between  Raymond  and  Bohemond  for  sole  possession 
of  what  they  had  jointly  conquered  delayed  further 
operations,  until  the  soldiers  who  were  left  in  Maarah 
with  their  own  hands  destro}'ed  the  fortifications,  and 
thus  rendered  it  useless  to  the  ambition  of  either  of 
the  leaders. 

It  was  not  until  far  into  the  year  that  the  united 
host  took  up  the  march  southward.  Everywhere 
they  were  lured  from  their  grand  objective,  the  sacred 
city,  by  the  sight  of  goodly  lands  and  strong  towers, 
the  spoil  or  possession  of  which  might  compensate 


1 2  2  The  First  Crusade. 

the  sacrifices  of  the  campaign.  Raymond  laid  siege 
to  Arkas,  at  the  foot  of  the  Lebanons ;  others  captured 
Tortosa. 

While  detained  before  the  walls  of  Arkas  they 
were  met  by  an  embassy  from  the  caliph  of  Egypt, 
composed  of  the  same  persons  that  had  previously 
visited  the  camp  at  Antioch.  They  narrated  how  they 
had  been  thrown  into  prison  because  of  the  failure  of 
their  former  mission,  when  their  master  heard  of  the 
straits  of  the  Christians ;  and  how  they  had  been  liber- 
ated and  sent  back  upon  his  hearing  of  the  subsequent 
triumph  of  the  Latins.  They  announced  that  Jeru- 
salem had  recently  come  into  the  hands  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  as  its  new  possessors,  proposed  peace  and 
privilege  of  pilgrimage  to  all  who  should  enter  the  city 
without  arms.  They  offered  splendid  bribes  to  the 
chieftains  in  person;  but  these  worthies  rejected  the 
proposal. 

The  fame  of  the  Christians'  victory  at  Antioch 
brought  new  crusaders  from  Europe,  among  them 
Edgar  Atheling,  the  last  Saxon  claimant  of  the  crown 
of  England  against  its  possession  by  William  the 
Conqueror. 

On  the  way  southward  the  hosts  harvested  the 
groves  of  olives  and  oranges,  and  the  waving  fields 
which  have  always  enriched  the  western  slopes  of 
Lebanon.  They  discovered  a  rare  plant,  juicy  and 
sweet,  refreshing  like  wine  and  nourishing  as  corn. 
The  inhabitants  called  it  zucra.  The  later  crusaders 
introduced  it  as  the  sugar-cane  into  Italy.  Proceed- 
ing along  or  near  to  the  coast,  that  they  might  be  able 
to  receive  succor  from  over  the  sea,  they  traversed 


On  to  Jerusalem.  i  23 


the  plain  of  Berytus  (Beirut)   and  the  territory  of 
Tyre  and  Sidon.     Many  pilgrims,  whose  zealotry  had 
led  them  to  settle  in  the  Holy  Land  notwithstanding 
its  hostile  possession,  hailed  iheir  brethren  with  bene- 
dictions and  provisions.      On  the  bank  of  the  river 
Eleuctra  their  camp  was  invaded  by  hosts  of  serpents, 
whose  bite  was  followed  by  violent  and  often  mortal 
pains.      At  Ptolemais  (Jean  d'Acre)  the  commanding 
emir  averted  assault  by  pledging  himself  to  surrender 
the  place  as  soon  as  he  should  learn  that  the  Chris- 
tians had  taken  Jerusalem.      His  pretence  of  peace- 
ableness  was  singularly  exposed.     A  hawk  was  seen 
to  fly  aloft  with  a  dove  in  its  talons.     By  strange 
chance  the  lifeless  bird  fell  amid  a  group  of  crusaders. 
It  proved  to  be  a  carrier-pigeon,  whose  peculiar  in- 
stinct was  then  unknown  to  Europeans.      Under  its 
wing  was  a  letter  written  by  the  emir  of  Ptolemais 
to  the  emir  of  C^esarea,  containing  the  words :  "  The 
cursed  race  of  Christians  has  just  passed  through  my 
territories  and  will  soon  cross  yours.      Let  all  our 
chiefs  be  warned  and  prepare  to  crush  them."     This 
timely  revelation  of  the  treachery  of  their  assumed 
ally,  coming  literally  down  from  the  sky,  was  regarded 
as  a  special  sign  of  Heaven's  favor. 

Pressing  still  southward,  they  captured  Lydda  and 
Ramleh,  on  the  road  between  Jaffa  and  Jerusalem. 
Here  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Christians  Winded  their 
judgment.  It  was  with  difficulty  that  the  more  cau- 
tious leaders  restrained  the  multitude  from  movhig 
against  Egypt,  in  the  vain  expectation  of  conquering 
not  only  Jerusalem,  but  the  ancient  empire  of  the 
Pharaohs,  at  a  single  swoop.      The  credulity  as  to 


1 24  The  First  Crusade. 

Heaven's  favor  was  matched  by  an  equal  display  of 
very  earthly  motives.  The  crusaders  devised  a  system 
for  dividing  the  spoil.  Whatever  leader  first  planted 
his  standard  upon  a  city,  or  his  mark  upon  the  door 
of  a  house,  was  to  be  regarded  as  its  legitimate  owner. 
This  appeal  to  human  greed  led  many  to  leave  the 
direct  march  upon  Jerusalem,  which  was  but  sixteen 
miles  away,  and  to  expend  in  petty  conquests  or 
robberies  the  ardor  which  for  weary  months  had  been 
augmenting  as  they  approached  the  grand  object  of 
the  crusades.  A  faithful  multitude,  however,  pushed 
on.  They  took  off  their  shoes  as  they  realized  that 
they  were  on  holy  ground.  Tancred,  with  a  band  of 
three  hundred,  making  a  circuit  southward  by  night, 
set  the  standard  of  the  cross  on  the  walls  of  Bethlehem, 
to  signal  the  birth  of  the  kingdom  in  the  birthplace  of 
its  King. 

On  the  morning  of  June  10,  1099,  the  sight  of  the 
Holy  City  broke  upon  the  view.  The  shout  of  the 
host,  "  Deus  vult!  Deus  vult!"  rolled  over  the  in- 
tervening hills  like  the  "noise  of  many  waters." 
Had  a  host  of  angels  filled  the  sky,  it  would  have 
seemed  to  their  enthusiastic  souls  but  a  fitting  con- 
comitant of  their  approach.  The  joy  of  the  apparent 
accomplishment  of  their  purpose  was,  however,  fol- 
lowed by  the  affliction  of  their  souls,  as  the  most  de- 
vout among  them  reminded  the  others  of  the  spiritual 
significance  of  the  scene  before  them.  Jerusalem  had 
witnessed  the  death  of  their  Lord.  For  a  while  the 
soldier  remembered  only  that  he  was  a  pilgrim ; 
knight  and  pikeman  knelt  together  and  laid  their 
faces  in  the  dust. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

THE   CAPTURE    OF   JERUSALEM. 

11'^  Egyptian  commandant  of  Jerusalem 
had  not  idly  awaited  the  slow  approach 
of  its  assailants.  He  had  stored  it  abun- 
dantly with  provisions,  strengthened  the 
walls  with  masonry  and  defensive  ma- 
chines, and  by  appeals  to  Moslems  everywhere  had 
completed  its  garrison.  The  suburban  country  was 
reduced  to  a  desert,  stripped  of  all  vegetation  which 
could  furnish  food  for  man  or  beast ;  all  standing  trees, 
and  the  timber  in  houses  that  might  be  wrought  into 
machinery  of  assault,  were  destroyed.  The  wells  in 
the  valleys  were  filled  with  stones,  and  poison  thrown 
into  the  cisterns  where  water  had  been  stored. 

Possibly  the  knowledge  that  the  district  about  Jeru- 
salem could  furnish  them  no  help  led  the  leaders  to 
listen  to  the  counsel  of  a  solitary  hermit  who  dwelt 
on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  who  promised  in  Christ's 
name  a  successful  assault  if  undertaken  at  once.  It 
does  not  seem  clear  how  an  army  without  siege  appa- 
ratus could  take  a  place  so  strongly  fortified.  On  the 
east  the  vast  walls,  rising  from  the  valley  of  Jehosha^ 

125 


126  The  First  Crusade. 

phat,  were  too  lofty  to  tempt  the  most  daring.  Those 
on  the  south,  overlooking  the  Kidron,  were  not  less 
impregnable.  The  crusading  army  took  every  possi- 
bility of  approach  into  consideration,  and  in  imita- 
tion of  Vespasian  and  Titus  a  thousand  years  before, 
stretched  their  lines  on  the  north  and  west  of  the  city. 
But  only  a  blind  faith  in  divine  assistance  could  have 
led  to  the  assault,  even  on  these  sides,  without  batter- 
ing-rams or  scaling-ladders.  Yet  at  the  trumpet's  call 
the  Christians  advanced.  They  joined  their  shields 
into  a  roof,  which  was  a  poor  defence  against  the 
stones  and  boiling  oil  that  descended  upon  them. 
Still  the  front  ranks  dug  into  the  walls  with  pikes 
and  axes,  while  the  rear  ranks  of  archers  and  slingers 
endeavored  to  drive  the  foe  from  the  ramparts  above. 
A  few,  finding  a  solitary  ladder,  mounted  the  walls, 
but  were  unable  to  withstand  the  crowd  of  Infidels 
who  met  them.  In  deep  discouragement,  they  aban- 
doned the  assault,  having  learned  the  lesson  that,  even 
at  Jerusalem,  Heaven  assures  no  enterprise  which  is 
conceived  regardless  of  human  discretion. 

Events  soon  occurred  which  turned  this  distrust  of 
miraculous  intervention  into  a  behef  that  Heaven  was 
actually  fighting  against  the  Christians.  It  was  a 
summer  of  fearful  heat  even  for  that  land.  Tasso's 
description  of  those  fiery  days  is  as  truthful  as  it  is 
poetic : 

"  The  fair  flowers  languish,  the  green  turf  turns  brown. 
The  leaves  fall  yellow  from  their  sapless  sprays ; 
Earth  gapes  in  chinks ;  th'  exhausted  fountain  plays 
No  more  its  music ;  shrunk  the  stream  and  lakes  ; 
The  barren  cloud,  in  air  expanded,  takes 
Semblance  of  sheeted  fire,  and  parts  in  scarlet  flakes. 


Suffc7'ing  be/ore  Jerusalem.  1 27 


Not  a  bird's  fluttering,  not  an  insect's  hum, 
Breaks  the  still  void ;  or,  on  its  sultry  gloom 
If  winds  intrude,  'tis  only  sueh  as  come 
From  the  hot  sands,  sirocco  or  simoom. 

Which,  blown  in  stifling  gusts,  the  springs  of  life  consume." 
Jiiusahin  Delivered,  canto  xiii. 


To  avoid  the  biinuiig  atmosphere  which  drained 
their  blood,  men  buried  themselves  naked  in  the 
ground.  At  night  they  sought  to  gather  the  dew, 
with  which  to  moisten  their  lips.  Those  who  found 
some  tiny  pool  fought  among  themselves  for  the  pos- 
session of  its  foul  water.  It  seemed  that  the  very 
"  stars  fought  in  their  courses  "  against  the  people  of 
God,  as  once  against  Sisera.  The  occasional  raids  of 
Mo.slems  upon  defenceless  bands  of  Christians,  as  they 
wandered  in  search  of  relief,  were  magnified  by  gen- 
eral fear  into  the  approach  of  vast  armies.  It  was 
rumored  that  Egypt  had  massed  its  power  and  was 
approaching  from  the  south. 

But  for  opportune  relief  it  is  probable  that  the 
crusaders  would  have  been  compelled  to  raise  the 
siege.  At  the  most  critical  moment  some  Genoese 
ships  entered  Jaffa.  Three  hundred  of  the  bravest 
knights  fought  their  way  through  the  Moslems  who 
obstructed  the  road  to  the  coast,  and  succeeded  in 
bringing  to  the  camp  before  Jerusalem  a  quantity  of 
provisions  and  material  for  siege  machinery,  as  well 
as  a  number  of  skilled  engineers  and  artisans.  They 
were  unable  to  prevent  the  ships  being  destroyed  by 
the  enemy.  Gathering  new  courage  from  this  rein- 
forcement, a  band  penetrated  to  the  forests  of  Samaria, 
full  thirty  miles  distant,  and  cut  timber,  which,  with 


128  The  First  Crusade. 

incredible  toil,  they  brought  back  for  the  construction 
of  battering-rams,  catapults,  and  strong  roofs  under 
which  to  conduct  their  renewed  operations.  Among 
the  most  formidable  contrivances  was  the  movable 
tower,  three  stories  high,  within  the  base  of  which 
men  worked  with  levers  to  move  the  structure  close 
to  the  walls,  while  on  the  upper  floors  soldiers  were 
massed,  who  at  the  lowering  of  the  drawbridge  de- 
scended upon  the  ramparts. 

Encouraged  by  this  material  aid,  the  crusaders 
again  sought  the  heavenly  succor.  They  remembered 
that  Joshua  combined  faith  with  valor,  and  that,  hav- 
ing invested  Jericho  with  prayers  and  psalms,  its  walls 
fell  down.  They  would  now  repeat  the  experiment. 
For  three  days  they  held  a  solemn  fast.  On  the 
fourth,  preceded  by  the  priests  bearing  images  of  the 
saints,  with  song  and  cymbals  and  trumpet,  and  bur- 
nished arms  flashing  in  the  hot  air,  they  set  out  for  the 
mystic  investment  of  the  frowning  walls  of  Jerusalem. 
Beginning  on  the  west,  the  procession  moved  north- 
ward. The  entire  army  worshipped  prostrate  at  the 
tombs  of  St.  Mary  and  St.  Stephen.  Bending  their 
course  to  the  southeast,  they  wept  at  the  reputed 
garden  of  Gethsemane.  They  then  went  up  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  and  there,  on  the  spot  whence 
Christ  had  ascended,  held  a  grand  convocation.  At 
their  feet  lay  the  landscape,  hallowed  by  the  exploits 
of  Hebrew  patriots  and  prophets,  but  chiefly  by  the 
footprints  of  the  Son  of  God.  On  the  one  hand 
gleamed  the  Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea ;  on  the  other 
was  Jerusalem,  like  an  altar  overturned  and  desecrated 
by  the  presence  of  the  heathen.     Their  most  eloquent 


Procession  around  the  City.  1 29 

orator,  Arnold  de  Rohes,  harangued  them  as  he 
pointed  to  tlic  dome  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  the  grand  objecti\e  of  all  their  toil,  hero- 
ism, and  piety.  Chieftains  who  had  long  cherished 
mutual  animosity,  like  Tancred  and  Raymond,  stood 
together  in  the  embrace  of  forgiveness  and  the  pledge 
to  forget  all  their  differences,  while  their  hearts  were 
reunited  as  in  a  celestial  flame. 

The  Moslems  themselves  added  fuel  to  the  fire  of 
Christian  enthusiasm  by  parading  on  the  walls  of  the 
city  with  crosses,  which  they  saluted  with  blasphemous 
gestures  and  cries.  Peter  the  Hermit  voiced  the  fresh 
fury  which  swayed  all  breasts.  He  cried,  "  Ye  see, 
ye  hear,  the  blasphemies  of  the  enemies  of  God, 
Swear  to  defend  the  Christ,  a  second  time  a  prisoner, 
crucified  afresh.  I  swear  by  your  faith,  I  swear  by 
your  arms,  that  these  mosques  shall  again  serve  for 
temples  of  the  true  God." 

Descending  from  the  Mount  of  Olives,  the  proces- 
sion mo\'ed  southward,  paying  reverence  at  the  Pool 
of  Siloam  and  the  tomb  of  David.  As  the  red  sun 
was  setting  in  the  white  gleam  of  the  Mediterranean, 
the  host  returned  to  their  camps  on  the  west  of  the 
city,  chanting  the  words  of  Isaiah:  "So  shall  they 
fear  the  name  of  the  Lord  from  the  west,  and  His 
glory  from  the  rising  of  the  sun."  In  strange  attes- 
tation of  the  unity  of  religious  sentiment  in  antago- 
nistic faiths,  the  songs  of  the  Christians  w^ere  echoed 
from  the  city  by  the  voices  of  the  muezzins,  who, 
from  the  minarets  of  mosques,  called  their  faithful  to 
prayer. 

During  the  night  Godfrey  made  a  rapid  change  in 


130  The  First  Crusade. 

his  point  of  attack,  so  that  in  the  morning  the  bewil- 
dered Moslems  saw  the  walls  threatened  where  they 
had  made  little  preparation  for  defence.  A  great  ra- 
vine which  thwarted  the  operations  of  Raymond  was 
quickly  filled  by  the  multitude,  who  rushed  amid  the 
thick  rain  of  arrows,  carrying  stones,  which  they 
threw  into  it. 

At  daybreak,  July  14,  1099,  as  from  a  single  im- 
pulse, the  rams  began  their  blows ;  the  catapults  and 
ballistse  filled  the  air  with  flying  stones  and  blazing 
combustibles,  and  a  storm  of  arrows  swept  the  walls. 
The  assault  was  met  with  equal  skill  and  courage, 
and  night  fell  upon  an  indecisive  engagement.  Ray- 
mond's tower  had  been  destroyed,  and  those  of  God- 
frey and  Tancred  were  injured  so  that  they  could  not 
be  moved. 

The  15th  of  July  witnessed  a  repetition  of  the  car- 
nage. The  priests  kept  up  an  unceasing  procession 
of  prayer  around  the  city,  a  pious  exhibition,  which 
was  matched  by  the  appearance  on  the  walls  of 
two  Moslem  sorceresses,  who,  as  the  Christians  said, 
invoked  the  aid  of  nature  and  demons.  In  vain  was 
the  heroism  and  sacrifices  of  the  crusaders.  Their 
towers  were  burned  and  fell,  burying  their  defenders 
beneath  the  blazing  fagots.  The  host  was  beginning 
to  withdraw  from  the  seemingly  useless  slaughter. 
Suddenly  the  cry,  "Look!  look!"  directed  all  eyes 
towards  the  Mount  of  Olives.  The  imagination  of 
some  one  had  seen — or  his  shrewdness,  recalling  the 
ruse  of  the  Holy  Lance  at  Antioch,  had  invented — the 
apparition  of  a  gigantic  knight  on  the  sacred  mount, 
waving  his  shield.     The  cry  of  "  St,   George !    St, 


Final  Assault— Christian  Cruelty.     1 3 1 


George !  "  rent  the  air.  A  timely  change  in  the  wind 
blew  the  flames  and  smoke  of  the  Christians'  remain- 
ing^ towers  towards  the  walls.  The  Moslems  were 
blhided  and  choked  as  by  the  breath  of  unearthly 
spirits.  Godfrey's  men  rushed  upon  them,  drove 
them  from  their  defences,  and,  climbing  over  the  wall, 
pursued  them  down  through  the  streets  of  the  city. 
Tancred  obtained  a  similar  advantage,  and  in  another 
torrent  poured  his  contingent  over  the  northern  end 
of  the  ramparts.  The  Christians  within  the  city  opened 
the  gates,  and  new  tides  of  slaughter  and  victory  rolled 
among  the  houses.  Last  of  all,  Raymond  carried  the 
battlements  which  opposed  him;  thus  the  various 
bands  met  within  tlie  city.  One  rally  of  the  Moslems 
checked  but  for  an  instant  the  inevitable  result. 

The  valor  of  this  last  effort  of  the  defendants  might 
have  elicited  the  magnanimity  of  the  victors  for  so 
worthy  a  foe,  but  it  only  enraged  their  brutality. 
They  who  paused  long  enough  in  the  carnage  to  re- 
member that  it  was  Friday,  and  the  very  hour  when 
Christ  died  in  love  for  all  men,  did  not  remember  the 
simplest  precepts  of  their  holy  religion,  and  visited 
their  now  unresisting  enemies  with  slaughter  unsur- 
passed in  the  annals  of  cruelty.  Neither  age  nor  sex 
was  spared.  Children's  brains  were  dashed  out  against 
the  stones,  or  their  living  bodies  were  whirled  in  de- 
moniacal sport  from  the  walls.  Women  were  out- 
raged. Men  were  prodded  with  spears  over  the 
battlements  upon  other  spears  below,  or  were  re- 
served to  be  roasted  by  slow  fires  amid  the  mockeries 
of  their  captors.  In  the  letter  sent  by  Godfrey  and 
others  to  the  Pope  occur  these  words :  "  If  you  desire 


132  The  First  Crusade. 

to  know  what  was  done  with  the  enemy  who  were 
found  there,  know  that  in  Solomon's  porch  and  in  his 
temple  our  men  rode  in  the  blood  of  the  Saracen  up 
to  the  knees  of  their  horses." 

Both  Latin  and  Oriental  historians  give  seventy- 
thousand  as  the  number  of  Mussulmans  who  were 
massacred  after  the  capture,  besides  those  who  fell  in 
the  fight.  It  is  certain  that  the  entire  population  that 
did  not  escape  from  the  city  were  intended  for  death, 
for  such  was  the  deliberate  decree  of  the  council  of 
chiefs.  The  blood-crazed  soldiers  extended  the  scope 
of  this  outrageous  mandate  to  include  the  Jews,  who 
perished  in  the  flames  of  their  synagogue.  From 
their  hiding-places  in  mosques,  homes,  and  the  vast 
underground  vaults,  the  citizens  were  plucked  out  by 
the  point  of  the  lance  and  sword.  Thus  many  a 
Moslem  died  in  the  confirmed  behef  of  the  superior 
humanity  of  his  own  religion,  though  it  was  called  the 
religion  of  the  sword. 

The  only  apology  for  this  cruelty  that  can  be  given 
is  the  brutality  of  manhood  in  these  dark  ages.  The 
gentler  Christianity  of  earlier  days  had  been  sadly 
changed  by  the  propensities  of  the  semi-barbaric 
Northern  conquerors  who  embraced  it.  The  church 
had  as  yet  been  able  to  affect  the  masses  with  only 
its  dogmas  and  ritual,  not  with  its  deeper  and  more 
truly  religious  influence  for  the  restraint  of  passion 
and  the  tuition  of  the  sentiment  of  love.  The  military 
spirit,  too,  had  allied  itself  with  the  ecclesiastical ;  as 
Milman  says,  "  The  knight  before  the  battle  was  as 
devout  as  the  bishop;  the  bishop  in  the  battle  no  less 
ferocious  than  the  knight."     The  truth  of  this  is  evi- 


Jerusalem  Despoiled.  133 


dent  from  the  fact  that  contemporary  writers  do  not 
attempt  to  excuse  it,  but  glory  in  sights  the  imagina- 
tion of  which  appals  our  modern  sensibilities.  Ray- 
mond d'Agiles,  an  eye-witness,  speaks  with  pleasantry 
of  the  headless  trunks  and  bodies  dancing  on  ropes 
from  the  turrets.  The  ghost  of  the  dead  Adhemar 
was  seen  in  his  ecclesiastical  robes  partaking  of  the 
triumph,  but  those  who  describe  the  vision  report  no 
rebuke  from  his  lips  for  the  carnage.  Tancred  and 
Raymond  of  Toulouse  alone  seem  to  have  raised  any 
voice  of  mercy,  and  they  suffered  the  imputation  of 
mercenary  motives  for  their  clemency. 

Jerusalem  was  given  over  to  the  Christian  spoilers. 
Every  man  secured  possession  of  the  dwelling  upon 
which  he  first  set  his  mark  or  name.  To  Tancred's 
share  fell  the  entire  furniture  of  the  mosque  of  Omar, 
six  chariot-loads  of  gold  and  silver  candelabra  and 
other  ornaments.  With  characteristic  generosity,  he 
divided  the  booty  with  Godfrey  and  many  private 
soldiers,  reserving  fifty  marks  of  gold  for  the  re- 
decoration  of  the  Christian  churches.  But  most 
precious  to  their  credulity  was  the  True  Cross,  alleged 
to  have  been  miraculously  discovered  by  Helena,  the 
mother  of  Constantine,  in  the  fourth  century,  which, 
having  been  stolen  by  Chosroes  the  Persian,  had 
been  restored  to  the  sacred  city  by  Heraclius. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

GODFREY,  FIRST  BARON  OF  THE  HOLY  SEPULCHRE 
— CONQUEST  OF  THE  LAND — THE  KINGDOM  OF 
JERUSALEM. 

|HEN  wearied  with  gathering  the  spoil  the 
crusaders  dehberated  how  best  to  secure 
their  possessions.  This  could  be  done 
only  by  maintaining  peace  within  the  city 
and  adequate  defence  against  the  armies 
of  the  Infidels,  who  would  undoubtedly  rise  to  assail 
them  from  without. 

Their  first  business  was  the  selection  of  a  king  of 
Jerusalem.  The  popularity  of  Godfrey,  merited  by 
his  genius,  bravery,  and  devotion,  readily  suggested 
his  name  to  the  ten  electors  who  were  chosen  to 
voice  the  suffrage  of  the  host.  To  secure  his  enthu- 
siastic reception  by  the  people,  he  did  not  need  ad- 
ditional arguments  drawn  from  imagined  revelations 
of  the  will  of  Heaven.  Yet  visions  were  invoked  to 
confirm  the  judgment  of  human  discretion.  One  re- 
ported that  he  had  seen  Godfrey  enthroned  in  the 
sun,  while  numberless  flocks  of  birds  from  all  lands 
came  and  nestled  at  his  feet.  This  was  interpreted 
to  mean  the  coming  glory  of  Jerusalem  and  the  crowds 

134 


Godfrey  s  Rule.  i35 


of  pilerims  who  should  be  safe  beneath  his  sway. 
Godfrey  modcstlv  dccHned  the  royal  title,  acceptinL,^ 
only  that  of  Defender  and  Baron  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre, saying  that  he  would  not  wear  a  crown  of  gold 
in  the  city  where  Christ  had  worn  only  a  crown  ot 
thorns  (July  22,  1099). 

With  less  unanimity  and  only  after  unseemly 
brawls,  which  were  in  strange  contrast  with  the  or- 
derly arrangement  of  their  secular  afTairs,  Arnold  de 
Rohes  the  eloquent  but  dissolute  ecclesiastic,  was 
selected  by  the  priests  as  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem. 

With    true    statesmanlike    purpose,    Godfrey    ad- 
dressed himself  to  the  organization  of  the  political 
and  military  government  of  his  new  dominion.     He 
had,  however,  Httle  time  to  devote  to  the  peace  ul 
progress  of   his   kingdom.      Raymond   diverted  his 
chief's    attention    more    by   plots   of    ambition    and 
iealousy  than  he  aided  him  by  wisdom  of  counseU 
Multitudes  of  Christians  resident  in  the  East,  excited 
to  become  such  by  the  fame  of  the  conquests  of  the 
crusaders,  poured  into  the  city  and  vicinage,  and  thus 
added  to  the  governor's  cares. 

At  the  same  time  the  Mussulmans,  quickly  recuper- 
ating from  their  despair,  inaugurated  new  campaigns 
TheVurks  and  Persians  laid  aside  their  jealousy  o 
the  Egyptians,  and  poured  southward  and  westward 
to  join  the  army  of  the  caliph  of  Cairo.     Afdhal 
already  famous  for  having  wrested  Jerusalem  from 
the  Turks,  gathered  the  warriors  of  Islam  of  all  tribes 
and  races,  from  the  Nile  to  the  Tigris.     His  advanc- 
inc.  army  was  supported  by  a  vast  fleet,  which  had 
be^en  laden  at  Alexandria  and  Damietta  with  provi- 


136  The  Kiiigdom  of  Jertisalem. 

sions  and  siege  apparatus  for  a  second  capture  of  what 
to  them,  as  well  as  to  the  Christians,  was  the  sacred 
city. 

Learning  that  the  Moslems  had  reached  Gaza, 
Godfrey  set  forth  to  meet  them,  with  Tancred  as  his 
most  worthy  coadjutant.  Raymond,  having  quar- 
relled with  Godfrey  about  the  independent  posses- 
sion of  the  tower  of  David,  sulked  in  his  house,  and 
Robert  of  Normandy  also  refused  to  march  to  the  aid 
of  Godfrey.  These  leaders  were,  however,  at  length 
driven  from  the  city  by  the  taunts  of  the  priests  and 
the  women.  Their  martial  pride  was  also  stirred  by  the 
message  of  Godfrey  that  a  battle  was  imminent.  The 
crusaders  made  their  camp  at  Ramleh,  and  August 
I  ith  advanced  towards  Ascalon.  By  the  banks  of  the 
wadi  Surak  they  captured  immense  herds  of  camels, 
oxen,  and  sheep,  which  encouraged  them  as  much, 
doubtless,  as  did  the  wood  of  the  True  Cross  that  was 
carried  through  the  ranks.  The  herds  also  seemed 
to  be  marshalled  by  a  special  providence  as  their 
rearward.  We  must  describe  this  in  the  words  of 
Godfrey :  "  When  we  advanced  to  battle,  wonderful 
to  relate,  the  camels  formed  in  many  squadrons,  and 
the  sheep  and  oxen  did  the  same.  Moreover,  these 
animals  accompanied  us,  halting  when  we  halted, 
advancing  when  we  advanced,  and  charging  when 
we  charged."  The  enormous  dust-clouds  raised  by 
the  herds  led  the  Moslems  to  take  them  for  a  con- 
tingent of  the  Christian  force,  which  imagination 
magnified  to  many  times  its  real  numbers,  A  paraly- 
sis of  fear  fell  upon  the  Infidels.  Most  of  them,  being 
fresh  troops,  had  never  met  the  crusaders  in  battle. 


Victory  at  A  sea  Ion.  137 


and  had  dared  the  issue,  relying  upon  their  own 
superiority  in  numbers.  Now  that  this  dependence 
seemingly  failed  them,  they  antici])atcd  defeat  at  tlic 
hands  of  the  heroes  of  Nica;a  and  Antioch  and  Jeru- 
salem, and  stood  ncrxeless  before  the  attack.  The 
Christians,  coming  near,  fell  every  man  upon  his 
knees  in  prayer,  then  rose  to  make  the  charge.  Ray- 
mond struck  the  column  of  Turks  and  Persians; 
Tancred  led  his  braves  through  tiie  Moors  and  Egyp- 
tians ;  Godfrey  crushed  the  Ethiopians,  who  resisted 
him  but  for  an  instant  with  their  long  flails  armed 
with  balls  of  iron ;  Robert  of  Normandy  wrested  the 
standard  from  the  hands  of  Afdhal  himself.  As  the 
Moslems  cast  away  their  bows  and  javelins  to  hasten 
their  flight,  the  Christians  cast  away  theirs  that  they 
might  speed  the  pursuit  with  the  sword.  Back  the}' 
drove  the  Infidels  against  the  walls  of  Ascalon.  Two 
thousand  were  trampled  or  suffocated  in  the  crowd 
that  choked  the  gate;  multitudes,  avoiding  the  cit}*, 
were  driven  into  the  sea  and  were  drowned.  The 
panic  communicated  itself  to  the  Egyptian  sailors  on 
the  fleet,  who  spread  tiieir  sails  and  disappeared  over 
the  sea,  leaving  the  Moslem  soldiers  no  op})ortunity 
of  escape.  Godfrey  says:  "There  were  not  in  our 
army  more  than  five  thousand  horsemen  and  fifteen 
thousand  foot-soldiers,  and  there  were  probably  of 
the  enemy  one  hundred  thousand  horsemen  and  four 
hundred  thousand  foot-soldiers.  .  .  .  Mcmx  than  one 
hinulred  thousand  perished  by  the  sword ;  and  if 
many  of  ours  had  not  been  detained  plundering  the 
camp,  few  of  the  great  multitude  would  have  escaped." 
Raymond  claimed  the  city  of  Ascalon  for  his  own 


138  The  Kmgdom  of  Jerusalem. 

possession.  Godfrey  declared  that  all  conquests 
belonged  to  their  common  kingdom  of  Jerusalem. 
Raymond,  in  mean  revenge,  encouraged  the  Moslems 
not  to  surrender  their  stronghold,  which  still  resisted. 
By  similar  counsel  he  prevailed  upon  the  Saracen 
garrison  of  Arsuf  to  hold  out.  Godfrey  could  not 
restrain  his  anger  at  this  treachery,  and  turned  his 
arms  upon  his  old  comrade.  Tancred  and  Robert  of 
Normandy  threw  themselves  between  the  swords  of 
the  combatants  and  effected  their  reconciliation. 

With  the  victory  at  Ascalon  (August  19,  1099)  the 
first  crusade  may  be  said  to  have  terminated.  The 
events  of  the  subsequent  year  relate  to  the  history  of 
the  new  kingdom  of  Jerusalem.  The  closing  months 
of  the  eleventh  century  witnessed  the  return  of  the 
mass  of  crusaders  to  their  European  homes.  In  al- 
most every  castle  and  hamlet  of  France  the  thrilling 
events  of  three  years  were  narrated  by  those  whose 
scars  corroborated  the  story  of  their  valor  and  suf- 
ferings. Nearly  every  family  remembered  a  father, 
a  brother,  or  a  son  as  a  martyr,  or  rejoiced  in  his  re- 
turn renowned  as  a  hero  or  revered  as  a  saint. 

Few  of  the  leaders  enlarged  their  repute  by  any 
subsequent  actions.  Peter  the  Hermit  ended  his 
days  at  advanced  age  in  the  monastery  of  Huy,  which 
his  renown  for  sanctity  had  enabled  him  to  found. 
Robert  of  Normandy  seems  to  have  exhausted  all  the 
manliness  of  his  nature  in  his  Eastern  adventures. 
He  allowed  an  amour  to  detain  him  in  Italy  for  more 
than  a  year,  during  which  time  his  brother  Henry 
took  the  throne  of  England  on  the  death  of  William 
Rufus,  a  reward  which  might  easily  have  come  to 


Retu  rn  of  Crusaders  1 3 9 


Robert,  had  he  shown  disposition  to  defend  his  right 
of  inheritance.  Henry  wrested  from  him  even  his 
duchy  of  Normandy,  and  confined  him  in  the  castle 
of  Cardiff,  where  he  died  after  twenty-eight  years  of 
captivity. 

Raymond  retired  to  Laodicea,  the  government  of 
which  he  had  secured.  From  this  place  he  was  sum- 
moned to  command  new  bands  of  crusaders.  Multi- 
tudes set  out  under  him.  Some  followed  Stephen  of 
Blois,  brother  to  the  French  king,  whose  desertion  of 
the  crusaders  brought  upon  him  such  dishonor  that 
he  was  eager  to  restore  his  repute  by  a  second  en- 
listment. William,  Count  of  Poitiers,  Lord  of  France, 
reputed  as  the  first  of  the  Troubadours,  departed 
with  a  retinue  of  soldiers  and  girls.  A  German  horde 
was  led  by  Conrad,  the  marshal  of  the  empire.  Italians 
followed  Anselm,  Archbishop  of  Milan,  in  whose  train 
were  lords,  knights,  and  noble  ladies,  among  them  the 
Princess  Ida  of  Austria. 

These  various  bands,  like  the  earlier  crusaders,  met 
at  Constantinople,  repeating  the  annoyance  to  the 
Plmperor  Alexius,  who  begged  Raymond  to  relieve 
him  of  their  presence.  This  veteran  accepted  the 
duty,  bearing  with  him  the  Holy  Lance  that  had 
wrought  wonders  at  Antioch,  and  which  Raymond 
regarded  as  a  match  for  the  arm  of  St.  Ambrose  that 
the  Archbishop  of  Milan  had  brought  from  his  cathe- 
dral. 

This  march  eastward  was  without  discipline,  monks 
and  women  often  filling  the  places  of  soldiers.  Kilidge- 
Arslan,  the  Sultan  of  Iconium,  burned  with  desire  to 
avenge  his  defeat  three  years  before  at  Nicasa.    Ker- 


140  The  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem. 

bogha,  Sultan  of  Mosul,  was  equally  inflamed  to 
wipe  out  his  disgrace  at  Antioch.  These  joined  their 
forces  and  overwhelmed  the  Christians  at  the  river 
Halys.  The  massacre  almost  amounted  to  extermina- 
tion. Raymond  fled  with  the  other  leaders.  The 
Turks  repeated  their  assault  upon  a  second  army, 
under  the  Count  de  Nevers,  at  Ancyra,  with  similar 
results.  And  again  they  administered  their  terrible 
vengeance  upon  a  third  army,  under  the  Count  of 
Poitiers,  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  and  Count  Hugh  of 
Vermandois,  of  whose  reputed  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  scarcely  one  thousand  escaped.  The  leaders 
found  a  sorry  refuge  in  rags  and  wounds  at  Tarsus 
and  Antioch.  The  women,  among  them  the  Princess 
Ida,  disappeared  within  the  curtains  of  numberless 
harems.  A  forlorn  remnant  reached  Jerusalem,  to 
add,  perhaps,  more  to  the  care  than  to  the  assistance 
of  Godfrey. 

The  rule  of  Godfrey  as  Baron  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
was  brief,  but  such  as  to  promise,  had  his  career  been 
extended  to  even  the  age  of  most  of  his  companions, 
a  record  worthy  of  the  greatest  of  kings.  Despising 
the  mere  gilding  of  a  throne,  he  sought  to  strengthen 
his  government  by  the  best  laws  known  to  Europe, 
as  well  as  to  guard  and  extend  his  power  by  the 
sword. 

The  latter  was,  however,  the  first  and  pressing 
necessity.  The  departure  of  the  crusading  hosts  left 
him  but  three  hundred  knights  with  their  retainers, 
out  of  six  hundred  thousand  who  during  three  years 
had  taken  the  cross.  His  strongholds  were,  besides 
Jerusalem,  a  score  of  towns  scattered  over  the  vici- 


Godfrey  V  Prowess.  1 4 1 


nage  of  the  capital,  in  many  cases  antagonized  by  the 
still  remaining  fortresses  of  the  Infidels.  The  country 
between  these  towns  was  open  to  the  passage  of  his 
foes..  The  land  was  untilled,  and  odered  scanty  pro- 
vision for  his  people.  To  prevent  a  further  exodus 
of  Christians,  it  was  enacted  that  land  could  be  ac- 
quired in  ownership  t)nly  after  a  year's  continuous 
occupancy,  and  would  be  alienated  by  a  year's  ab- 


sence. 


Tancred  was  as  Godfrey's  right  hand.     These  two 
men  stand  out  together  as  preeminent  for  their  moral 
qualities  among  many   as  brave  as  they  in  merely 
physical   prowess.      To   Tancred    was   assigned  the 
principality  of  Tiberias,  the  possession  of  which   he 
quickly   acquired   with   his   sword.      Godfrey   at   the 
same  time  forced  the  acknovvledgment  of  his  govern- 
ment by  exacting  tribute  from  the  Arabs  west  of  the 
Jordan,  and  from  the  emirs  along  the  coast  of  the 
Mediterranean.    One  city,  Asur  (Arsuf),  refused  sub- 
mission and  maintained  its  independence  in  spite  of 
siege.     The  spirit  of  Godfrey  was  strangely  tried  here 
by  an  incident.    Gerard  of  Avernes  had  been  given  up 
by  Godfrey  as  a  hostage  for  his  clemency  and  justice 
in  deahng  with  the  people  of  the  town.     While  the 
arrows  of  the   Christians  were  sweeping  the  walls, 
Gerard  was  placed  unshielded  at  a  point  where  they 
were  falling  thickest,  that  his  danger  might  divert  the 
assault.     Godfrey,  coming  near,  cried  aloud  to  him, 
"  If  my  own  brother  were  in  your  place  I  could  not 
cease  my   attack;    die,    then,    as   a   brave   knight." 
Gerard  accepted  his  martyrdom,  and  fell  beneath  the 
missiles  of  his  friends. 


142  The  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem, 

To  Jerusalem  came  a  multitude  of  pilgrims,  among 
them  Dagobert  (Daimbert)  as  special  legate  from  the 
Pope.  By  virtue  of  his  high  office  he  claimed  for 
himself  the  patriarchate  of  Jerusalem,  together  with 
the  secular  sovereignty  of  Jaffa  and  the  section  of  the 
sacred  city  in  which  was  located  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 
Following  further  the  policy  of  the  popes  to  make 
their  dominion  a  world  monarchy,  secular  as  well  as 
spiritual,  Dagobert  required  Godfrey  to  acknowledge 
himself  a  temporal  vassal  of  the  pontiff,  and  to  pledge 
to  the  patriarch  the  sovereignty  of  the  kingdom  in  the 
event  of  Godfrey  dying  without  children.  Bohe- 
mond,  as  Prince  of  Antioch,  and  Baldwin,  Prince  of 
Edessa,  brother  of  Godfrey,  and  Raymond,  now  of 
Laodicea,  were  at  the  time  visiting  Jerusalem.  These 
also  made  their  submission,  and  received  their  govern- 
ments anew  from  the  Holy  Father. 

With  the  counsel  of  these  and  others,  his  wisest 
advisers,  Godfrey  inaugurated  the  system  of  laws 
afterwards  known  as  the  Assizes  of  Jerusalem.  They 
were  not  completed  until  a  subsequent  century,  but 
their  inception  belongs  to  his  statesmanship.  These 
regulations  are  interesting  as  reflecting  in  brief  com- 
pass the  best  customs  of  Europe.  Their  study  may, 
therefore,  be  on  that  wider  field.  The  Assizes  were 
a  sort  of  written  constitution,  and  when  prepared  the 
original  document  was  placed  with  solemn  pomp  in 
the  archives  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 

But  the  reign  begun  under  such  favorable  auspices 
was  suddenly  terminated.  Returning  from  an  expe- 
dition for  the  succor  of  Tancred,  Godfrey  accepted 
the  hospitality  of  the  emir  of  Caesarea,  and  immedi- 


Death  of  Godfrey.  t  43 


ately  falling  ill,  his  sickness  was  accredited  to  poisoned 
fruit  He  died  soon  after  reaching  his  capital  (June 
18,  1 100),  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-eight.  In  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is  still  to  be  seen  his 
tomb,  near  by  that  of  his  Lord,  which  he  had  given 
his  brief  but  brave  life  to  rescue  and  defend. 

Godfrey's  preeminence  among  the  original  crusader 
chieftains  was  due  not  so  much  to  any  single  virtue 
in  which  he  was  their  superior  as  to  a  rare  combina- 
tion of  many  excellent  qualities.      It  was  said  of  him 
that  he  was  the  peer  of  Raymond  in  counsel  and  of 
Tancred  in  the  field.     To  this  we  may  add  that  for 
piety  he  outshone  Adhemar  the  priest.    In  the  midst 
of  the  fight  he  would  pause  for  prayer  to  the  God  of 
battles;    and  his  meditation  on  sacred  themes  was 
ordinarily  prolonged  far  beyond  the  hours  prescribed 
for  devotion  by  the  church.      His  nature  was  gentler 
and  more  just  than  that  of  his  companions.    If  at  times 
his  actions  were  cruel,  they  might  be  attributed  rather 
to  the  habit  of  the  age  than  to  his  own  inclination. 
Since  he  surpassed  his  generation  in  so  many  respects, 
it  would  be  neither  just  nor  generous  to  criticise  his 
defects.    In  him  we  see  the  budding  of  a  better  type 
of  humanity  amid  the  prevailing  grossness  of  animal- 
ism and  superstition. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

BALDWIN    I.,   KING    OF   JERUSALEM. 

N  strange  contrast  with  Godfrey  was  his 
brother  Baldwin,  the  Prince  of  Edessa, 
whom  the  necessities  of  the  infant  kin^- 

o 

dom,  rather  than  his  own  merits,  now 
called  to  the  vacant  throne.  Baldwin  had 
already  shown  himself  as  unscrupulous  as  he  was 
alert,  and  as  covetous  as  he  was  bold.  With  un- 
doubted adroitness  and  courage,  he  had  acquired  and 
held  his  principality  of  Edessa.  Here  he  reigned  with 
Oriental  pomp,  w^ore  long  robes  and  flowing  beard, 
sat  cross-legged  on  rugs,  and  compelled  all  suppliants 
for  his  favor  to  approach  with  the  salaam  of  profound- 
est  homage.  This  ostentation  was  apparently  more 
from  policy  among  a  people  familiar  with  such  customs 
than  from  love  of  display  or  any  despotic  instinct. 

Dagobert,  the  papal  legate,  opposed  the  suggestion 
of  Baldwin's  kingship  of  Jerusalem,  and  claimed  that 
honor  for  himself.  He  might  have  obtained  it  had 
not  Garnier,  the  agent  of  Baldwin,  seized  upon  the 
tower  of  David  and  the  other  fortresses  in  the  name 
of  his  absent  master.  The  baffled  prelate  called  upon 
Bohemond,  now   Prince   of   Antioch,  to   come   and 

144 


Baldwin  /.,  King  of  Jerusalem.         145 

avenge  tin's  insult  offered  to  the  Holy  Father  in  the 
person  of  his  legate;  but  the  Turks,  by  capturing 
Bohemond,  interfered  with  this  plan.  The  activity 
shown  by  the  common  enemy  decided  the  popular 
voice  for  Baldwin  as  king.  The  dangers  which 
threatened  forbade  that  the  government  of  Jerusalem 
should  be  left  in  the  hands  of  a  priest  untrained  in 
war.  The  soldier  seemed  pointed  out  by  Providence 
for  the  kingship,  although  the  hand  of  the  Pope  was 
stretched  out  to  anoint  another. 

Baldwin,  learning  of  the  death  of  Godfrey,  im- 
mediately turned  over  the  government  of  Edcssa  to 
his  cousin,  Baldwin  du  Bourg,  and  with  fourteen  hun- 
dred men  marched  for  Jerusalem.  On  tlie  way  he 
gave  new  proof  of  his  puissance  by  first  outwitting 
and  then  utterly  routing  vastly  superior  numbers,  with 
which  the  emirs  of  Damascus  and  Emesa  endeavored 
to  block  his  way.  Pausing  at  the  sacred  city  only 
long  enough  to  assure  himself  of  the  applause  of  the 
entire  population,  he  gave  another  exhibition  of  his 
merit  of  the  crown  before  wearing  it.  With  a  sudden 
swoop  he  devastated  the  enemy's  country  from  the 
Mediterranean  to  the  Dead  Sea,  and,  laden  with 
booty,  demanded  and  received  from  the  hands  of  the 
unwilling  prelate  the  crown  and  blessing  in  the  name 
of  the  Pope.  Quickly  following  the  coronation  ser- 
vices at  Bethlehem,  he  captured  Arsuf  and  CjEsarea. 
An  Egyptian  army  had  advanced  as  far  as  Ramleh, 
but  Baldwin,  with  a  white  kerchief  tied  to  his  lance's 
point  as  his  oriflamme,  led  his  braves  again  and  again 
through  this  host,  until  they  were  routed,  leaving  five 
thousand  dead  on  the  field.    Amid  the  shrieks  of  the 


146  The  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem. 

dying  the  king  caught  the  subdued  cry  of  a  woman. 
She  was  the  wife  of  a  Moslem,  who  had  accompanied 
her  husband  to  the  war,  and  had  been  taken  with 
the  pains  of  childbirth.  By  the  conqueror's  order 
she  was  tenderly  cared  for,  placed  upon  the  rug  from 
his  own  tent,  covered  with  his  own  mantle,  and 
later  conducted  with  her  new-born  babe  to  the  arms 
of  her  husband.  His  compassion  soon  received  its 
reward.  The  rallying  Mussulmans  surrounded  his 
band  not  only  with  swords,  but  with  fire,  having 
ignited  the  long,  dried  grass.  With  difficulty  the  king 
escaped  to  Ramleh,  which  the  enemy  completely 
invested.  During  the  night,  while  anticipating  the 
fateful  assault  of  the  morrow,  he  was  secretly  ap- 
proached by  a  Moslem  officer.  This  man  proved  to 
be  the  husband  of  the  woman  whom  Baldwin  had 
befriended.  Led  by  his  gratitude,  he  had  put  his 
own  life  in  jeopardy  in  order  to  reveal  to  his  bene- 
factor a  secret  path  to  safety.  The  Moslem  assault 
carried  the  town ;  they  put  to  death  all  Christians 
found  within  it.  In  Jerusalem  the  great  bell  tolled, 
while  the  people  crowded  the  churches  or  marched 
in  procession,  mourning  the  supposed  death  of  their 
king,  when  suddenly  came  the  news  of  Baldwin's 
safety.  In  the  rhetoric  of  the  chronicle,  it  was  "  like 
the  morning  star  out  of  the  night's  blackness." 

The  capture  of  Ramleh  by  the  enemy  endangered 
Jaffa,  the  real  port  of  Jerusalem,  at  which  the  kingdom 
was  in  touch  with  Europe.  Baldwin  made  his  way 
in  disguise  to  Arsuf.  Embarking  with  Godric,  an 
English  pirate,  he  sailed  straight  through  the  Egyp- 
tian galleys  that  guarded  the  harbor  of  Jaffa.     In 


Ruse  of  Bohanond.  147 


June,  1 102,  with  forces  augmented  from  an  English 
fleet  under  Harding,  he  assailed  the  enemy.  The 
Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  carried  the  wood  of  the  True 
Cross.  With  the  cry,  "  Christus  regnat!  Vincet! 
Imperat !  "  which  subsequently  appeared  as  the  legend 
on  the  gold  coins  of  France,  the  besieged  became  the 
victors.  But  the  joy  of  the  triumph  when  the  king 
returned  to  Jerusalem  was  marred  by  the  memory  of 
the  many  slain;  Stephen  of  Blois  and  Stephen  of 
Burgundy,  with  a  great  number  of  the  bravest  knights, 
had  fallen. 

The  Greek  emperor,  Alexius,  while  sending  con- 
gratulation to  the  Christians,  could  not  repress  his 
jealousy  of  their  victories.  He  prepared  to  assail 
Antioch  ;  he  negotiated  with  the  captors  of  Bohemond 
for  his  ransom,  that  he  might  secure  from  his  grati- 
tude the  title  to  the  city  which  that  chieftain  held. 
Bohemond,  however,  ransomed  himself  by  pledges  to 
the  emir  who  held  him,  and,  after  having  endured  a 
captivity  of  four  years,  defended  his  city  in  battles 
by  sea  and  land  from  the  treachery  of  the  Greeks. 
At  the  same  time,  with  other  chieftains,  he  carried 
arms  into  Mesopotamia.  At  Charan  he  barely  es- 
caped  in  company  with  Tancred,  while  their  com- 
panions, Josselin  de  Courtenay  and  Baldwin  du 
Bourg,  were  dungeoned  at  Mosul. 

In  view  of  his  exhausted  resources,  Bohemond  at- 
tempted a  vast  and  romantic  scheme  for  their  recu- 
peration. Having  floated  a  report  of  his  death,  he 
concealed  himself  in  a  coffin  and  passed  through  the 
watchful  fleet  of  the  Greeks,  who  cursed  his  imagined 
corpse.     Arriving  in  Italy,  he  secured  a  new  com- 


148  The  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem. 

mission  from  the  Pope.  In  France  he  so  ingratiated 
himself  with  King  Philip  I.  as  to  secure  that  monarch's 
daughter,  the  Princess  Constance,  to  wife.  He  then 
raised  a  new  army  of  crusaders.  In  Spain  and  Italy- 
he  augmented  this  force,  and  embarking  at  Bari,  he 
attempted  to  take  a  bitter  retaliation  on  the  empire 
of  the  Greeks.  His  expedition  against  Durazzo  failed 
of  success.  Bohemond,  at  the  moment  when  his 
ambition  was  at  the  point  of  its  extremest  satisfaction, 
returned  to  die  in  his  own  Italian  dominion  of  Taranto. 

The  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  was  reduced  to  all  sorts 
of  expedients  to  raise  the  means  of  its  support  and 
extension.  King  Baldwin  recouped  his  treasury  by 
marriage  with  Adela,  widow  of  Count  Roger  of  Sicily. 
Her  vast  wealth  was  heralded  by  the  vessel  in  which 
she  sailed,  whose  mast  was  incased  in  gold  and  whose 
hold  was  laden  with  gems  and  coin.  A  thousand 
trained  warriors  followed,  at  her  expense.  Either 
the  drain  upon  her  purse  or  the  incompatibility  of 
her  relations  with  the  king  led  her  to  leave  him  after 
three  years  and  return  to  Italy. 

With  the  assistance  of  Genoese  fleets,  PtolemaTs 
was  captured.  The  mutual  jealousies  between  the 
Turks  and  the  Egyptians  enabled  the  Christians  to 
secure  the  southern  coast  of  Palestine.  Raymond 
having  died  before  the  walls  of  Tripoli,  his  son  Ber- 
trand  captured  that  city,  which  from  that  time  became 
the  titular  possession  of  his  family.  An  immense 
library  of  Persian,  Arabic,  and  Egyptian  manuscripts 
was  by  the  illiterate  Christians  given  to  the  flames. 
Biblus  and  Beirut  also  fell  before  the  standard  of 
the  cross.     With  the   aid  of  a  fleet  and  ten  thou- 


Death  of  Tancred.  149 

sand  men,  under  Sigur  of  Norway,  Sidon  was  quickly 
acquired. 

But  in  the  midst  of  these  triumphs  came  an  irrep- 
arable loss.  Tancred,  the  ideal  of  knighthood,  died 
(December  12,  11 12).  His  genius  and  sword  had 
conquered  widely  in  northern  Syria.  His  memory 
has  been  embalmed,  while  his  real  virtues,  which 
needed  no  untruthful  praises,  have  been  exaggerated 
in  poetry  and  romance  since  Chaucer  sang  of  him 
as  "  a  very  parfite,  gentil  knight." 

The  loss  of  Tancred  was  felt  especially  in  the  north, 
where  the  Christians  soon  after  met  a  fearful  defeat 
at  Mount  Tabor.  In  extremity  they  made  alliance 
with  the  Saracens  of  Damascus  and  Mesopotamia, 
under  the  Sultan  of  Bagdad. 

The  jealousy  among  the  Moslems  giving  him 
seeming  security  from  attack  on  the  north.  King 
Baldwin  planned  the  invasion  of  Egypt.  He  crossed 
the  desert  and  appeared  within  three  days'  journey 
.of  Cairo.  While  returning  from  a  raid,  laden  with 
spoil  and  flushed  with  the  anticipation  of  soon  adding 
the  land  of  the  Nile  to  his  possessions,  the  king  fell 
sick.  Nominating  l^aldwin  du  Bourg  for  his  successor, 
he  died  at  the  o-iX-g^  of  the  desert  (i  1 18).  His  body 
was  brought,  in  obedience  to  his  dying  request,  and 
deposited  beside  that  of  Godfrey,  near  to  the  Holy 
Sepulchre. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

KING  BALDWIN  II. — KING  FOULQUE — KING  BALD- 
WIN III. — EXPLOITS  OF  ZENGHI — RISE  OF 
NOURREDIN. 

BALDWIN  DU  BOURG  was  elected  to 
the  vacant  throne  of  Jerusalem,  Eustace, 
brother  of  Godfrey,  having  declined  to 
contest  it,  magnanimously  saying  to  his 
partisans,  "  Not  by  me  shall  a  stumbling- 
block  enter  into  the  Lord's  kingdom."  Baldwin  II. 
was  well  advanced  in  years,  experienced  in  council 
and  in  field,  having  been  one  of  the  companions  of 
Godfrey  in  the  first  crusade,  and  during  the  reign 
of  Baldwin  I.  having  held  the  government  of  Edessa. 
In  contrast  with  his  predecessor,  he  was  painstaking 
in  planning,  cautious  in  executing,  and  withal  a  man 
of  deep  religious  devotion. 

In  April,  1 123,  while  attempting  the  relief  of  Count 
Josselin,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner  at  Khartpert 
by  Balek  the  Turkoman,  King  Baldwin  II.  was  cap- 
tured and  confined  in  the  same  city.  A  devoted  band 
of  Armenians  entered  Khartpert  in  the  disguise  of 
merchants,  and  succeeded  in  liberating  Josselin,  but 
the  king  was  carried  away  to  Harran  for  safer  keeping. 

150 


Reign  of  Baldwin  11.  151 


The  absence  of  Baldwin  II.  was  measurably  com- 
pensated by  the  vigor  and  astuteness  of  Eustace 
Grenier,  who  was  elected  to  the  regency.  The 
Egyptians  had  massed  themselves  in  the  plains  of 
Ascalon  for  an  advance  against  Jerusalem.  After  a 
fast,  which  was  so  rigorously  enforced  that  mothers 
did  not  suckle  their  babes,  and  cattle  were  driven  to 
sterile  places  beyond  their  pasturage,  the  army  of 
Christians  marched  from  the  city  at  the  sound  of  the 
great  bell.  The  patriarch  carried  the  wood  of  the 
True  Cross,  another  dignitary  bore  the  Holy  Lance, 
another  a  vase  containing  milk  from  the  breast  of  the 
Virgin  Mary.  The  credulity  which  devised  these  ex- 
pedients of  victory  might  readily  see,  as  reported,  a 
celestial  thunderbolt  fall  upon  the  army  of  the  Infidels. 
It  is  enough  for  history  to  record  that  the  Christians 
were  triumphant. 

The  Genoese  and  Pisans  had  often  brought  assis- 
tance to  the  crusaders  and  great  gain  to  themselves 
by  the  part  they  took  in  these  holy  wars.  The 
Venetians,  however,  having  profitable  commerce  with 
the  Saracens,  were  not  at  first  tempted  to  hazard  a 
rupture  with  them.  At  length  they  too  sought  the 
new  adventure.  In  the  warlike  temper  of  the  age, 
the  Venetian  fleet,  in  command  of  the  doge,  Domen- 
icho  Michaeli,  did  not  hesitate  to  attack  a  returning 
Genoese  fleet  for  the  sake  of  its  plunder.  Having 
robbed  and  murdered  their  coreligionists,  they  re- 
peated the  raid  upon  an  I-Lgyptian  fleet  which  was 
leaving  the  mouth  of  the  Nile.  With  appetites  thus 
whetted,  they  proposed  to  the  regency  at  Jerusalem 
to  sell  themselves  to  the  service  of  God  for  one  third 


152  The  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem, 

the  territory  they  might  acquire  conjointly  with  the 
crusaders.  The  terms  being  accepted,  an  innocent 
child  drew  the  lot  which  should  show  the  will  of 
Heaven  as  to  whether  Ascalon  or  Tyre  were  the  better 
prize.  Tyre  was  indicated,  and  six  months  after 
(July  7,  1 124)  fell  to  gratify  the  greed  of  Venice  and 
the  pride  of  the  people  of  Jerusalem. 

A  month  later  King  Baldwin  II.  secured  his  liber- 
ation. In  1 129  he  strengthened  his  throne  by  the 
marriage  of  his  daughter,  Melisende,  to  Foulque  of 
Anjou,  son  of  the  notorious  Bertrade,  who  had  de- 
serted her  legitimate  husband  for  the  embrace  of 
King  Philip  of  France.  This  monarch  had  put  away 
his  wife  Bertha  for  this  new  union.  Thus  was  brought 
upon  Philip  the  famous  excommunication  of  the  Pope. 
Two  years  later  (August  13,  1131)  Baldwin  II.  died 
and  was  buried  with  Godfrey  and  Baldwin  I.  in  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 

Foulque  ascended  the  throne.  His  first  work  was 
to  settle  a  dispute  for  the  lordship  of  Antioch,  which 
was  accomplished  only  after  bloodshed  between 
brethren.  Next  he  baffled  the  Greek  emperor,  John 
Comnenus,  who  attempted  to  gain  for  himself  the 
kingdom  of  Jerusalem.  Later  he  made  alliance  with 
the  Mussulman  Prince  of  Damascus  and  fought  against 
Zenghi,  Prince  of  Mosul.  His  queen,  Melisende, 
by  her  rumored  amours  brought  him  additional  per- 
plexity. King  Foulque  died  from  an  injury  while 
hunting  (November  13,  1 143),  leaving  two  children, 
Baldwin  and  Amalric. 

Baldwin  III.  succeeded  his  father  at  the  age  of 
thirteen,    with    Melisende    as    regent.      Effeminacy 


King  Foulqtie — King  Baldwin  III.     1 53 

not  only  marked  the  government,  but  infected  the 
spirit  of  the  people.  The  heroism  of  the  founders  of 
the  kingdom  seemed  to  die  in  the  blood  of  their  suc- 
cessors, or,  if  danger  fired  the  ancient  valor,  it  was 
without  the  light  of  discretion. 

Young  Baldwin  III.  inaugurated  his  reign  by  a 
foolish  expedition  to  take  Bozrah,  which  had  been 
offered  in  surrender  by  its  traitorous  commandant. 
To  accomplish  this  it  was  necessary  to  break  a  fair 
and  useful  alliance  which  the  Christians  had  made 
with  the  Sultan  of  Damascus,  the  rightful  lord  of 
Bozrah.  On  reaching  Bozrah,  instead  of  the  keys  of 
the  city,  there  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  king  an 
announcement  from  the  wife  of  the  treacherous  gov- 
ernor that  she  herself  would  defend  the  walls.  The 
perplexity  of  the  king  and  his  equally  callow  advisers 
was  followed  by  an  ignoble  retreat.  The  enemy 
pursued  not  only  with  sword,  but  with  fire.  The 
wind,  which  seemed  to  the  retreating  army  to  be  the 
breath  of  God's  wrath,  covered  them  with  smoke  and 
cinders,  while  the  flames  of  the  burning  grass  chased 
their  fleeing  feet.  The  Christians  would  have  per- 
ished had  not,  say  the  chronicles,  the  wood  of  the 
True  Cross,  raised  with  prayer,  changed  the  direction 
of  the  breeze  and  beaten  back  the  pursuers. 

At  this  time  there  was  felt  the  need  of  an  astute 
mind  at  the  head  of  the  kingdom.  Christian  progress 
had  been  arrested,  and  events  of  evil  omen  were  thick- 
ening. 

The  star  of  Zenghi,  the  ruler  of  Mosul,  the  father 
of  Nourredin,  and  the  forerunner  of  Saladin,  had 
arisen.     This  redoubtable  warrior  had  conquered  all 


154  ^-^^^  Kingdom  of  Jerusalem. 

his  Moslem  rivals  on  the  Euphrates ;  he  had  swept 
with  resistless  fury  westward,  capturing  Aleppo 
(i  128),  Hamah  (i  129),  and  Athareb  (r  130).  Though 
the  Moslems  had  been  assisted  by  Baldwin  II.,  yet 
tlie  Oriental  writers  sang  of  how  the  "  swords  of  Allah 
found  their  scabbards  in  the  neck  of  His  foes."  In 
1 144,  one  year  from  young  Baldwin's  coronation, 
Zenghi  appeared  before  the  walls  of  Edessa,  which 
since  the  early  days  of  the  crusades  had  been  in  the 
possession  of  the  Christians.  This  city  was  the  bul- 
wark of  the  Christian  kingdom  in  the  East ;  it  is  thus 
described  in  the  florid  language  of  the  place  and 
time :  "  I  was  as  a  queen  in  the  midst  of  her  court ; 
sixty  towns  standing  around  me  formed  my  train ; 
my  altars,  loaded  with  treasure,  shed  their  splendor 
afar  and  appeared  to  be  the  abode  of  angels.  I  sur- 
passed in  magnificence  the  proudest  cities  of  Asia, 
and  I  was  as  a  celestial  ornament  raised  upon  the 
bosom  of  the  earth." 

Had  old  Josselin  de  Courtenay  been  living,  Edessa 
would  have  given  a  stubborn  and  possibly  a  success- 
ful defence,  for  the  terror  of  his  name  had  long  held 
the  Moslems  at  bay.  Once,  while  lying  on  what  he 
thought  to  be  his  death-bed,  this  veteran  heard  that 
the  enemy  had  laid  siege  to  one  of  his  strong  towers, 
and  commanded  his  son  to  go  to  its  rescue.  The 
younger  Josselin  delayed  on  account  of  the  few  troops 
he  could  take  with  him.  Old  Josselin  ordered  the 
soldiers  to  carry  him  to  the  front  on  his  litter.  The 
news  of  his  approach  was  sufficient  to  cause  the  quick 
withdrawal  of  the  Moslems ;  but  an  invincible  foe  was 
upon  the  warrior,  for,  with  hand  raised  in  gratitude 
to  Heaven,  he  expired. 


Fall  of  Edessa .  155 

Josselin  II.  of  Edessa  was  unworthy  of  such  a  sire. 
His  weakness  being  known,  he  inspired  neither  terror 
in  his  foes  nor  respect  amoni;  his  own  people.  Zenghi 
surprised  Edessa  with  a  hostof  Kurds  and  Turkomans. 
To  Oriental  daring  he  added  the  careful  engineering 
learned  from  his  Western  antagonists.  Quickly  the 
walls  were  surrounded  by  movable  towers  higher  than 
the  ramparts;  battering-rams  beat  against  the  foun- 
dation, and  storms  of  stones,  javelins,  and  combustibles 
swept  away  the  defenders.  In  vain  the  city  held  out 
for  a  while  in  expectancy  of  aid  from  Jerusalem.  On 
the  twenty-eighth  day  (December  14,  1144)  it  fell. 
The  news  spread  a  dismay  which  could  ha\'e  been 
surpassed  only  by  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  itself. 

The  report  of  Zenghi's  death  two  years  later  gave 
to  the  Christians  a  ray  of  hope  for  at  least  fewer 
disasters.  That  hope  was  quickly  extinguished  by 
the  exploits  of  Nourredin,  his  son,  whose  deeds  stirred 
the  proj)hetic  spirit  of  Moslem  imams  to  foretell  the 
speedy  fall  of  the  Holy  City.  At  the  same  lime  they 
excited  the  superstitious  fears  of  the  Christians,  who 
saw  in  comets,  as  well  as  in  the  flash  of  Nourredin's 
cimeters,  the  signs  of  Heaven's  displeasure,  and  inter- 
preted the  very  thunders  of  the  sky  as  the  celestial 
echo  of  his  tramping  squadrons. 

The  tidings  of  the  fall  of  Edessa  was  the  immediate 
occasion  of  the  second  crusade. 

Before  considering  this,  let  us  note  briefly  the  in- 
fluence upon  Europe  of  the  first  crusade  and  of  the 
kingdom  of  Jerusalem  which  it  had  established. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


MILITARY   ORDERS — HOSPITALLERS — TEMPLARS 
— TEUTONIC    KNIGHTS. 


iJNE  of  the  most  significant  fruits  of  the 
first  crusade  was  the  creation  and  growth 
of  the  military  orders — the  Hospitallers, 
or  Knights  of  St.  John,  the  Templars,  and 
the  Teutonic  Knights. 
The  Hospitallers,  or  KnigJits  of  St.  John. — This 
famous  organization,  which  was  for  centuries  a  bul- 
wark of  Christendom  and  which  still  exists,  originated 
earlier  than  the  crusades,  but  first  attained  power 
and  repute  in  those  exciting  days.  In  the  year  1023 
the  Egyptian  caliph,  who  held  possession  of  Jeru- 
salem, was  induced  by  the  entreaty  of  the  mer- 
chants of  Amalfi  to  allow  them  to  found  in  the  sacred 
city  a  hospital  for  the  care  of  poor  and  sick  Latin 
pilgrims.  A  building  near  the  Ploly  Sepulchre  was 
secured  for  the  purpose  and  dedicated  to  the  Virgin, 
with  the  title  of  "  Santa  Maria  de  Latina."  As  the 
multitude  of  pilgrims  and  their  needs  increased,  a 
more  commodious  hospitium  was  erected.  This  was 
named  after  the   sainted    Patriarch   of  Alexandria, 

156 


Th  c  Hosp  ita  llcrs.  157 

John  Eleemon  (the  Compassionate).  St.  John  the 
Baptist  seems,  however,  to  have  secured  the  honor 
of  becoming  the  ultimate  titular  patron  of  this  order 
of  nurses  and  almoners.  When  Jerusalem  fell  into 
the  possession  of  the  crusaders  in  1099,  Gerard,  the 
hospital  Master,  endeared  himself  and  his  little  band 
of  helpers  to  the  multitude  of  wounded.  Godfrey  de 
Bouillon  endowed  them  with  the  rex-cnues  of  his 
estates  in  Brabant.  His  example  was  folhnved  by 
others.  Many  with  spirits  chastened  by  their  own 
sufferings  gave  themselves  personally  to  the  work  of 
the  Hospitallers.  Gerard,  the  Master,  organized  the 
brethren  into  a  religious  order,  exacting  from  them 
the  triple  vow  of  poverty,  obedience,  and  chastity. 
Each  member  wore  a  black  robe,  and  upon  his  breast 
an  eight-pointed  white  cross.  Anticipating  our  his- 
tory, in  1 1 13  the  order  was  dignified  by  the  special 
sanction  of  Pope  Paschal  H.  Raymond  du  Puy,  a 
noble  knight  of  Dauphine,  became  Master  in  11 18, 
and  enlarged  the  function  of  members  by  requiring 
of  them,  in  addition  to  the  triple  vow,  an  oath  of  mili- 
tary service.  The  order  was  then  divided  into  (i) 
knights,  whose  special  work  was  in  the  camp  and 
field;  (2)  clergy;  (3)  serving  brethren,  or  hospital 
attendants.  Later  it  was  necessary  to  subdivide  its 
numerous  adherents  into  seven  classes,  according  to 
the  language  they  spoke.  The  order  was  a  repub- 
lic, whose  officers  were  elected  by  the  suffrage  of  all, 
but  who,  once  installed,  wielded  an  autocratic  power. 
Its  fame  spread  throughout  all  countries.  Multitudes 
enlisted  under  its  auspices  for  service  in  the  Holy 
Land ;   it  became  possessed  of   enormous  property 


158  Military  Orders. 


throughout  Europe  ;  its  agents  were  at  all  courts,  and 
its  Briarean  hands  were  felt  at  every  centre  of  power 
throughout  Christendom. 

Tlic  Templars. — In  the  year  11 14,  four  years  be- 
fore the  Hospitallers  had  enlarged  their  function  to 
include  military  duties,  a  Burgundian  knight,  Hugh 
de  Payen,  and  eight  comrades  bound  themselves  by 
oath  to  guard  the  public  roads  about  Jerusalem, 
which  were  continually  menaced  by  Moslems  and 
freebooters.  King  Baldwin  H.  assigned  these  good 
men  quarters  on  the  temple  site  of  Mount  Moriah, 
whence  their  title,  "  Pauperes  Commilitones  Christi 
Templique  Salomonici."  At  first  the  Templars  seem 
to  have  gloried  in  their  poverty,  as  indicated  by  the 
original  seal  of  the  order,  which  represents  two  knights 
mounted  on  a  single  horse.  Their  members  aug- 
mented until  they  shared  with  the  Hospitallers  the 
glory  of  being  the  chief  defenders  of  the  new  king- 
dom of  Jerusalem.  Hugh  de  Payen  was  sent  by 
Baldwin  H.  as  one  of  his  ambassadors  to  secure  help 
from  FAiropean  powers.  The  Grand  Master,  appear- 
ing before  the  Council  of  Noyes,  January,  1128, 
obtained  for  his  order  the  formal  approval  of  the 
church.  He  returned  to  Palestine  with  three  hundred 
knights,  representing  the  noblest  famihes  of  Europe. 
Among  them  was  Foulque  of  Anjou,  afterwards  the 
King  of  Jerusalem.  Brotherhoods  of  Templars  were 
founded  in  Spain  by  1129,  in  France  by  1131,  and 
in  Rome  by  1 1 38.  The  mantle  of  the  Knight  Templar 
was  white  with  a  plain  red  cross  on  the  left  breast. 
The  clerical  members  wore  black.    Their  banner  bore 


Templars—  Teutonic  Knights.  1 59 


the  inscription,  "  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  but  unto  Thy 
name  be  glory!" 

The  history  of  the  Hospitallers  and  the  Templars 
until  the  fall  of  the  sacred  city  is  that  of  the  kingdom 
itself.  In  all  battles  these  knights  of  the  white  and  the 
red  cross  were  conspicuous  for  bravery,  and  by  the 
unity  and  discipline  of  their  organizations  gave  steadi- 
ness to  the  progress  of  the  cause,  or  at  least  retarded 
other  disasters  which  fmally  befell  it. 

Teutonic  Order.— T\\z  Order  of  Teutonic  Knights 
of  St.  Mary's  Hospital  at  Jerusalem  was  founded  in 
1 128.  During  its  earlier  history  its  members  limited 
their  endeavors  to  religious  and  charitable  work.  It 
was  not  until  1 190,  during  a  later  crusade  than  that 
we  have  been  narrating,  that  it  acquired  military 
organization.  From  that  time,  as  a  purely  German 
order,  it  shared  with  the  Hospitallers  and  Templars 
the  charters  bestowed  by  the  Pope  and  emperors, 
and  contested  with  them  the  palm  bf  heroism  and 
power.  Its  peculiar  badge  was  a  black  cross  on  a 
white  mantle. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

EUROPE  BETWEEN  THE  FIRST  AND  SECOND 
CRUSADES  —  KINGSHIP  IN  FRANCE  —  PAPAL 
AGGRANDIZEMENT  —  ABELARD  — ARNOLD  OF 
BRESCIA — BERNARD. 

URING  the  fifty  years  (1096-1 146)  which 
had  elapsed  since  the  exodus  of  the  first 
crusaders  a  new  generation  had  grown  up 
in  Europe.  Vast  changes  had  taken  place 
everywhere,  in  every  grade  of  society,  in 
popular  habits,  and  in  conditions  of  thought.  The 
crisis  of  the  Dark  Ages  had  passed ;  new  light  was 
breaking  upon  problems  of  government,  the  rela- 
tion of  classes,  and  even  upon  religious  doctrine  and 
discipline.  These  changes  were  largely  due  to  the 
crusade  itself  and  to  the  continuous  intercourse  be- 
tween the  East  and  the  West  which  it  inaugurated. 
The  full  development  of  these  new  sentiments  and 
movements  was  due  to  the  influence  of  subsequent 
crusades.  We  may,  therefore,  reserve  their  consid- 
eration until  we  shall  have  completed  the  story  of 
these  various  expeditions,  the  tramp  of  which  was  yet 
to  resound  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years.  Two  re- 
sults were,  however,  so  intimately  connected  with  the 

160 


Kingship  in  France.  i6i 


close  of  the  first  and  the  projection  of  the  second  cru- 
sade as  to  call  for  notice  in  piissing.  These  were  the 
strengthening  of  the  kingship  in  France  and  the  in- 
creased prestige  of  the  Papacy. 

The  kingship  in  France  during  this  period  became 
consolidated  and  rapidly  advanced.  So  many  of  the 
more  potent  and  adventurous  barons  being  engaged 
in  foreign  parts,  the  crown  had  little  competition,  and 
feudal  privileges  were  steadily  merged  in  the  royal 
prerogatives.  In  the  words  of  Michelet,  "  Ponderous 
feudalism  had  begun  to  move,  and  to  uproot  itself  from 
the  soil.  It  went  and  came,  and  lived  upon  the  beaten 
highway  of  the  crusade  between  France  and  Jerusa- 
lem." France  under  Louis  IV,  (the  Fat)  (1108-37) 
became  a  nation,  and  was  less  jealous  of  restless 
chieftains  at  home  than  of  the  newly  risen  kingdom 
of  the  Normans  in  England,  the  long  rivalry  with 
which  may  be  dated  from  this  reign.  When  the 
German  emperor,  Henry  V.,  in  1124  prepared  to  in- 
vade France,  the  counts  of  Flanders,  Brittany,  Aqui- 
taine,  and  Anjou  rallied  against  him  under  the  lead 
of  the  French  king,  whose  authority  they  had  pre- 
viously menaced. 

The  gathering  of  the  forces  of  the  Frankish  peo- 
ples under  a  single  sceptre  marks  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  Europe.  We  shall  observe  especially  its 
influence  upon  the  organization  of  the  coming  cru- 
sades, whose  leaders  were  no  longer  feudal  chieftains, 
like  Godfrey,  Raymond,  Bohemond,  and  Tancred,  but 
royal  personages  supported  by  the  compact  power  of 
the  new  nationality. 

The  chief  advantage  from  the  first  crusade  fell  to 


1 62        Europe  after  the  First  Crusade. 


the  Papacy,  which  gathered  to  itself  the  prestige  of 
the  power  it  had  evoked ;  and  rightly,  if  great  previ- 
sion ever  merits  the  fruit  of  the  policy  it  dares  to 
inaugurate.  Paschal  II.,  who  followed  Urban  II.  in 
the  papal  chair  (1099-1 1 18),  was  too  weak  to  uphold 
the  daring  projects  of  his  predecessor;  but  Calixtus 
II,  (11 19-24)  and  Innocent  II.  (1130-43)  showed 
the  genuine  Hildebrandian  spirit.  Although  the 
Concordat  of  Worms  (1123)  modified  somewhat  the 
claims  of  the  Papacy  as  against  the  German  empire, 
the  church  steadily  compacted  its  power  about  thrones 
and  people. 

The  authority  of  the  Papacy  was  especially  aug- 
mented in  this  period  by  its  temporary  success  against 
a  movement  whose  ultimate  triumph  was  destined  to 
cost  the  Roman  Church  its  dominance  of  Christen- 
dom, viz.,  the  impulse  towards  liberal  thought.  The 
standard-bearer  of  this  essential  Protestantism  was 
Abelard.  This  astute  reasoner  placed  the  human 
judgment,  when  guided  by  correct  scholarship,  above 
all  traditional  authority.  The  popularity  of  his 
teaching  was  a  serious  menace  to  the  doctrines  of 
the  church,  so  far  as  these  rested  upon  the  dictation 
of  the  popes.  The  consternation  of  ecclesiastics  was 
voiced  by  Bernard,  the  Abbot  of  Clairvaux,  who 
declared  in  his  appeal  to  Pope  Innocent  II.  :  "  These 
books  of  Abelard  are  flying  abroad  over  all  the  world  ; 
they  no  longer  shun  the  light;  they  find  their  way 
into  castles  and  cities;  they  pass  from  land  to  land, 
from  one  people  to  another.  A  new  gospel  is  promul- 
gated, a  new  faith  is  preached.  Disputations  are 
b.eld  on  virtue  and  vice  not  according  to  Christian 


Abelard^A  mold  of  Brescia.  163 


morality,  on  the  sacraments  of  the  church  not  ac- 
cording to  the  rule  of  faith,  on  U.e  ->-teo'  o  the 
Trinity  not  with  simplicity  and  soberness,  lis  hu^c 
Goliath,  with  his  armor-bearer,  Arnold  of  Brescia, 
defies  the  armies  of  the  Lord  to  battle 

The  Goliath  fell,  but  by  no  pebble  from  the  shng 
of  a  David.  Bernard  was  justly  reputed  the  greatest 
mind  of  the  age.  Me  hesitated  to  enter  into  a  learned 
controversy  with  Abclard,  but  smote  hnn  with  a 
thunderbolt  of  excommunication,  which  he  secured 
from  the  hands  of  the  occupant  of  the  Vatican  throne. 

Another  movement  against  the  papal  power  was 
even  more  threatening  and,  during  the  period  we 
are  describing,  caused  the  throne  of  Peter  to  tremble^ 
As  Abelard  assailed  the  current  thought,  so  Arnold 
of  Brescia  proposed  to  revolutionize  the  secular  power 
of  the   Papacy.      He   denied  its   right   to   temporal 
dominion  in  Italy,  to  dominate  as  it  was  domg  the 
councils  of  other  kingdoms,  to  interfere  with  judicial 
functions   or  to    conduct    military   operations.      He 
would  sweep  away  all  this  outward  estate  as  unbe- 
coming the  representative  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.    The 
cler-y  must  be  reduced  to  apostolic  poverty;  their 
c,]ory  should  be  only  their  good  works;  their  main- 
tenance the  voluntary  offerings,  or  at  most  the  tithings, 
of  the  people.    Even  the  empire  of  Germany  and  the 
French  kingdom  should  be  converted  into  republics. 

Arnold's  views  made  rapid  headway.  Brescia 
declared  itself  a  republic.  The  Swiss  valleys  were 
full  of  liberal  sympathizers.  A  commonwealth  sprang 
up  in  Rome,  which  announced  to  the  Pope  its  recog- 
nition of  only  his  spiritual  headship.     The   people 


164        Europe  after  the  First  Crusade. 

defeated  and  slew  one  Pope,  who  was  clad  in  armor 
and  marched  at  the  head  of  his  soldiers;  another 
they  expelled. 

It  was  while  the  papal  territory  in  Italy  was  thus 
occupied  by  the  adherents  of  Arnold  that  the  second 
crusade  was  inaugurated. 

Bernard,  Abbot  of  Clairvaux,  was  its  chief  inspirer, 
both  in  counsel  with  the  leaders  of  Europe  and  with 
his  voice  as  its  popular  herald.  High  above  generals 
and  scholars,  beyond  kings,  emperors,  and  popes,  this 
man  stands  in  the  gaze  of  history.  His  repute  for 
wisdom  and  sanctity  was  extended  by  miracles  ac- 
credited to  his  converse  with  Heaven.  Believed  to 
be  above  earthly  ambition,  he  commanded  and  re- 
buked with  a  celestial  authority.  Papal  electors  came 
to  consult  the  monk  before  they  announced  their 
judgment  as  to  who  should  be  Pope,  and  when  on 
the  throne  the  Pope  consulted  the  monk  before  he 
ventured  to  set  the  seal  of  his  infallibility  to  his  own 
utterances.  Bernard's  humility  may  have  been  great 
Godward,  but  it  was  not  of  the  sort  to  lead  him  to 
decline  the  solemn  sovereignty  of  men's  minds  and 
wills.  When  Henry  I.  of  England  hesitated  to  ac- 
knowledge Innocent  II.,  Bernard's  choice  for  Pope, 
on  the  ground  that  he  was  not  the  rightful  occupant 
of  the  holy  see,  the  monk  exclaimed,  "  Answer  thou 
for  thy  other  sins;  let  this  be  on  my  head."  When 
Lothaire  of  Germany  demanded  of  the  Holy  Father 
the  renewal  of  the  right  of  imperial  investitures,  the 
saint  threw  his  spell  about  the  emperor  and  left  him 
submissive  at  the  feet  of  the  pontiff.  When  Louis 
VII.  of  France,  in  his  rage  against  Thibaut,  Count 


Ber7iard's  Influence.  165 


of  Champagne,  carried  devastation  through  the 
count's  domains  and  burned  the  church  of  Vitry, 
with  thirteen  hundred  of  its  citizens  who  had  there 
taken  refuge  against  his  vengeance,  Bernard  openly 
rebuked  the  king,  and  with  such  effect  that  the 
monarch  proposed,  as  a  self-inflicted  penance,  a 
pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,  there  to  wipe  out  his  guilt 
in  the  blood  of  Moslems. 

In  this  purpose  of  Louis  VII.  originated  the  second 
crusade. 


THE    SECOND    CRUSADE. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

BERNARD — CONRAD  III. — LOUIS  VII. — SUGER — 
SIEGE  OF  DAMASCUS. 

OPE  Honorius  delegated  Bernard  to  preach 
throughout  France  and  Germany  the  re- 
newal of  the  holy  war.  Drawn  as  much 
by  the  fame  of  the  monk  as  by  the  man- 
dates of  the  king  and  the  Pope,  a  vast  as- 
sembly of  prelates  and  nobles  gathered  at  Vezelay  in 
Burgundy.  A  large  platform  was  erected  on  a  hill 
outside  the  city.  King  and  monk  stood  together, 
representing  the  combined  will  of  earth  and  heaven. 
The  enthusiasm  of  the  assembly  of  Clermont  in  1095, 
when  Peter  the  Hermit  and  Urban  II.  launched  the 
first  crusade,  was  matched  by  the  holy  fervor  inspired 
by  Bernard  as  he  cried,  "O  ye  who  listen  to  me! 
hasten  to  appease  the  anger  of  heaven,  but  no  longer 
implore  Its  goodness  by  vain  complaints.  Clothe 
yourselves  in  sackcloth,  but  also  cover  yourselves 
with  your  impenetrable  bucklers.     The  din  of  arms, 

166 


Bertiard  Preaches  Crusade.  167 

the  danger,  the  labors,  the  fatigues  of  war,  are  the 
penances  that  God  now  imposes  upon  you.  Hasten 
then  to  expiate  your  sins  by  victories  over  the  In- 
fidels, and  let  the  deliverance  of  the  holy  places  be 
the  reward  of  your  repentance."  As  in  the  olden 
scene,  the  cry  "  Deus  vult!  Deus  vult!"  rolled  over 
the  fields,  and  was  echoed  by  the  voice  of  the  orator: 
"  Cursed  be  he  who  does  not  stain  his  sword  with 
blood." 

The  king  set  the  example  by  prostrating  himself 
at  the  feet  of  the  monk  and  receiving  from  his  hands 
the  badge  of  the  cross.  "The  cross!  the  cross!"  was 
the  response  of  thousands  who  crowded  about  the 
platform.  Queen  Eleanor  imitated  her  husband,  and 
was  followed  by  such  a  host  of  nobles,  bishops,  and 
knights  tiiat  Bernard  tore  his  garments  into  strips  to 
supply  the  enthusiasts  with  the  insignia  of  their  new 
devotion.  Similar  scenes  were  enacted  throughout 
France  wherever  the  saint  appeared.  Eye-witnesses 
do  not  hesitate  to  tell  of  miracles  wrought  by  his 
hands,  emblazoning  his  mission  with  tiie  seals  of 
heaven. 

The  enlistments  were  so  many  that  Bernard  wrote 
to  the  Pope,  "  The  villages  and  castles  are  deserted, 
and  there  are  none  left  but  widows  and  orphans,  whose 
husbands  and  parents  are  still  living." 

The  orator  visited  Germany.  A  diet  of  the  empire 
was  at  the.  time  of  his  arrival  convened  at  Spires. 
The  new  emperor,  Conrad  III.,  at  first  refused  to 
heed  the  more  private  counsel  of  Bernard  to  join  the 
crusade,  urging  in  return  the  need  of  the  imperial 
hand  upon  the  helm  of  state.    One  day  Bernard  was 


1 68  The  Second  Crusade. 

saying  mass,  when  suddenly  he  stopped  and  pictured 
Jesus  Christ,  armed  with  the  cross  and  accompanied 
by  angels,  reproaching  the  emperor  for  his  indiffer- 
ence. Conrad  was  as  impotent  to  resist  this  eloquence 
and  assumption  of  divine  authority  as  his  predecessor 
had  been.  He  burst  into  tears  and  exclaimed,  "  I, 
too,  swear  to  go  wherever  Christ  shall  call  me."  With 
many  of  his  lords  and  knights,  he  received  the  cross 
from  Bernard's  hand. 

From  the  Rhine  to  the  Danube  the  enthusiasm 
spread  like  an  epidemic.  No  class  had  immunity 
from  it.  Even  thieves  and  cutthroats  were  so  far 
converted  as  to  swear  to  rob  and  murder  only  Infidels. 
Bernard's  gift  of  persuasion  was  unsurpassed  since 
the  days  of  Pentecost,  for  men  and  races  that  could 
not  understand  a  word  he  said  were  as  readily  per- 
suaded as  those  who  spoke  the  Frankish  tongue. 

Roger  of  Sicily  offered  to  convey  the  new  armies 
to  Palestine  in  his  fleets,  urging  the  hereditary  treach- 
ery of  the  Greeks ;  for,  though  Alexius  had  "  gone 
to  his  own  place  "  below,  his  grandson  Manuel  oc- 
cupied his  place  at  Constantinople.  The  leaders, 
however,  preferred  the  perils  of  the  land  route  to  the 
uncertainties  of  the  deep. 

The  government  of  France  during  the  absence  of 
Louis  VII.  was  committed  to  the  hands  of  Suger, 
Abbot  of  St.  Denis.  A  wiser  choice  could  not  have 
been  made.  He  had  been  the  adviser  of  Louis  the 
Fat,  and  to  his  astuteness  rather  than  to  that  of  the 
king  were  due  the  consolidation  and  development  of 
French  autonomy,  which  made  that  reign  notable. 
An  evidence  of  Suger's  foresight,  as  well  as  of  his 


Start  of  French  and  Germans.         169 


independence  and  courage,  is  the  fact  that  he,  almos 
alone  of   men,   opposed   the   crusading  scheme  and 
predicted  its  fataUty.     Only  at  the  command  of  the 
Pope  did  Suger  assume  the  guardianship  of  the  kmg- 

"^Not  distrustful  of  the  king,  but  credulous  of  the 
heavenly  mission  of  Bernard,  the  multitude,  includmg 
the  most  noted  warriors,  called  for  the  monk  to  be- 
come their  military  leader.  Only  the  intervention  o 
the  Holy  Father,  who  declared  that  it  was  sufficient 
for  the  saint  to  be  the  trumpet  of  Heaven  without 
wielding  the  sword,  allayed  the  universal  demand^ 
Thus  at  Whitsuntide,  1167,  a  hundred  thousand 
Frenchmen  set  out  for  their  rendezvous  at  Metz. 
Their  monarch  bore  at  their  head  the  sacred  banner 
of  St  Denis,  an  oriflamme  under  which,  at  even  that 

early  day,  the  kings  of  France  believed  themselves 

invincible. 

But  though   royally  commanded,   the  army  was 
somewhat  a  motley  array.     Troubadours  joined  the 
host  to  relieve  the  tedium  of  the  camp  with   their 
songs  of  expected  triumph.    Ladies  of  the  court  and 
soldiers'  wives  graced  and  encumbered  the  enterpris^e. 
One  troop  of  female  combatants  was  commanded  by 
an  Amazon,  whose  gilded  boots  made  her  known  as 
•'  the  lady  with   the  legs  of  gold."     Old  men   and 
children  were  carried  along  with  the  baggage.    By  the 
side  of  the  saint  trudged  the  libertine  and  the  crimi- 
nal whose  remorse  had  been  kindled  by  the  preachmg 
of  Bernard,  and  whose  search  for  the  remission  of  sins 
at  Jerusalem  was  to  poorly  compensate  the  dissolute 
outbursts  of  their  unchanged  natures  along  the  way. 


1 70  The  Second  Crusade. 

The  enthusiasm  of  the  crusaders  was  not  main- 
tained by  those  who  remained  at  home,  since  upon 
them  fell  the  unromantic  burden  of  providing  money 
for  the  army's  sustenance.  The  Jews  were  openly 
robbed,  the  Abbot  of  Cluny  declaring  it  a  righteous 
thing  to  despoil  them  of  wealth  acquired  by  usury 
and  sacrilege.  Monasteries  were  bled  of  their  long- 
accumulated  treasure.  Churches  sold  their  ornaments 
and  mortgaged  their  lands  to  supply  the  enormous 
demand.  Thus  the  huzzas  of  the  departing  were 
echoed  by  the  suppressed  groans  of  those  who  were 
left  behind. 

The  Germans  under  Conrad  III.  had  preceded  the 
French.  Before  they  reached  Constantinople  they 
had  more  than  once  to  punish  with  violence  the 
chronic  perfidy  of  the  Greeks.  The  Germans  burned 
the  monastery  at  Adrianople  to  avenge  the  assassi- 
nation of  one  of  their  comrades.  Beyond  the  Bos- 
porus Conrad's  soldiers  were  incessantly  picked  off 
and  slain  by  skulking  Greeks.  The  flour  they  pur- 
chased from  the  merchants  of  Constantinople  they 
found  mixed  with  lime.  The  Greek  guides  were  in 
alliance  with  the  Turks,  and  led  the  Christians  into 
ambuscades  among  the  defiles  of  the  Taurus.  Conrad 
himself  was  twice  wounded  by  treacherous  arrows, 
and  his  host,  reduced  to  one  tenth  of  its  original 
numbers,  was  forced  to  painfully  retrace  the  way  to 
Nicaea. 

The  French  were  at  first  more  cordially  received 
by  the  Greeks  than  had  been  their  German  allies ; 
but  they  soon  learned  that  the  Emperor  Manuel  was 
in  collusion  with  the  Sultan  of  Iconium.    Louis  hardly 


Disastrous  Begiyining.  17I 


restrained  his  people  from  taking  vengeance  by  as- 
saulting the  Greek  capital,  and  forced  them  onward 
to  the  relief  of  the  Germans.  Conrad  did  not  await 
their  coming,  but  returned  to  Constantinople  and 
made  temporary  fellowship  with  his  betrayer.  The 
French,  thus  deserted,  continued  tlieir  route  alone. 
The  Moslems  massed  against  them  on  the  bank  of 
the  Meander,  only  to  be  scattered  by  the  fury  of  the 
French  onset,  or,  if  we  may  believe  some  of  the 
spectators,  by  the  appearance  of  the  familiar  celestial 
knight  clad  in  white  armor,  who  headed  the  Christian 
army. 

Flushed  with  victory,  Louis  hastened  onward  two 
days'  march  beyond  Laodicea.  Here  he  divided  his 
force  into  two  bands  for  the  safer  passage  of  a  moun- 
tain ridge.  The  vanguard  was  ordered  to  encamp 
upon  the  heights  until  joined  by  their  comrades,  that 
they  might  make  descent  in  full  force  upon  the  farther 
plains.  But  the  impatience  of  the  soldiers  in  the 
advance,  encouraged  by  Queen  Eleanor,  could  not 
brook  the  cautionary  command  ;  they  descended  the 
other  side  of  the  ridge.  The  wary  Turks  quietly  took 
the  ground  thus  unwisely  abandoned.  The  second 
division  of  tlie  French,  mistaking  them  for  friends, 
climbed  the  ascent  without  regard  to  orderly  array, 
and  were  welcomed  by  a  murderous  assault.  The 
king  barely  escaped  after  witnessing  the  slaughter  of 
thirty  of  his  chief  nobles  at  his  side.  Alone  upon  a 
rock  which  he  had  climbed,  he  kept  his  assailants  at 
bay  until  they,  mistaking  him  for  a  common  soldier, 
withdrew  for  some  worthier  prize.  The  heavy  arms 
of  the  Franks  were  worse  than  useless  against  the 


1 72  The  Second  Crusade. 

storm  of  rocks  and  arrows  which  the  Turks  rained 
upon  them,  and  the  morning  that  dawned  after  a 
night  of  unparalleled  terror  revealed  a  miserable 
remnant  of  the  French  force  fighting  or  stealing  its 
way  to  the  vanguard. 

Placing  the  command  in  the  hands  of  the  veteran 
Gilbert,  and  Evrard  des  Barras,  Grand  Master  of  the 
Templars,  who  had  marched  from  the  East  to  assist 
the  new  crusaders,  Louis  pressed  on.  Winter  fell 
with  unwonted  severity  upon  his  ragged  and  starving 
retainers.  The  Greeks  held  Attalia  and  refused  to 
allow  the  Franks  to  enter  that  city.  At  length  Louis 
accepted  their  oflfer  to  transport  a  portion  of  his  army 
by  sea  to  Syria.  Leaving  a  large  proportion  of  his 
camp,  the  king  set  sail,  and  arrived  at  Antioch  in 
March,  1 148.  Less  than  one  quarter  of  his  followers 
met  him  on  the  Syrian  soil. 

The  Franks,  thus  abandoned  by  their  king,  had 
incessantly  to  fight  with  the  swarming  Turks,  until 
human  nature  succumbed.  Their  leaders,  Archam- 
baud  and  Thierri,  deserted  them  and  followed  the 
king  over  the  sea.  Seven  thousand  essayed  to  pursue 
their  journey  overland,  and  were  massacred,  or  per- 
ished amid  the  dangers  of  the  way.  The  old  chron- 
icle says,  "  God  alone  knows  the  number  of  the 
martyrs  whose  blood  flowed  beneath  the  blade  of  the 
Turks  and  even  under  the  sword  of  the  Greeks." 
Three  thousand  are  said  to  have  lost  their  faith  in 
the  protection  of  Christ  and  sought  the  pity  of  the 
Moslems  by  confessing  the  Prophet. 

Raymond  of  Poitiers  was  at  this  time  lord  and 
commandant  at  Antioch,  and  welcomed  the  King  of 


The  Kings  Reach  Palestine.  i  ']2i 


France  with  the  expectation  of  receiving  his  help  in 
the  conquest  of  Aleppo  and  Caesarea,  but  as  much, 
say  the  chronicles,  for  the  sake  of  the  ladies  who 
accompanied  him  as  for  his  military  aid.  Queen 
Eleanor  was  Raymond's  niece,  and  with  her  suite 
were  several  of  the  most  celebrated  beauties  from  the 
courts  of  Europe.  Their  presence  promised  to  make 
Antioch  again  the  brilliant  and  voluptuous  city  it  had 
been  of  old.  When  the  king  proposed  to  move  south- 
ward to  Jerusalem  his  queen  refused  to  accompany 
him.  Some  secret  ambition,  or  a  motive  less  credi- 
table to  her  virtue,  led  her  to  such  disregard  for  the 
king  that  she  announced  her  rejection  of  her  marriage 
vows,  alleging  as  her  reason  some  newly  awakened 
scruples  of  conscience  on  the  ground  of  premarital 
kinship  with  Louis.  Her  husband  was  compelled  to 
kidnap  his  wife  and  carry  her  by  force  from  the 
palace  to  the  camp.  This  estrangement  was  the  be- 
ginning of  the  rupture  of  relations  between  the  King 
and  Queen  of  France,  that  led  to  his  ultimate  repu- 
diation of  her  and  to  her  subsequent  marriage  with 
Henry  H.  of  England,  by  whom  she  became  the 
mother  of  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion. 

At  Jerusalem  Louis  and  Conrad  finally  met,  the 
latter  without  soldiers,  having  reached  the  city  in  the 
disguise  of  a  pilgrim.  After  paying  the  proper  tribute 
of  devotion  at  the  sacred  shrines,  the  two  Western 
sovereigns,  with  Baldwin  HI.,  King  of  Jerusalem, 
and  their  chief  barons,  gathered  at  St.  Jean  d'Acre 
to  determine  upon  the  coming  campaign.  The  as- 
sembly was  graced  by  the  presence  of  Queen  Meli- 
sende  of  Jerusalem  and  many  ladies  from  the  courts 


1 74  The  Second  Crusade. 

of  Europe;  but  there  came  neither  the  Queen  of 
France  nor  her  advisers,  Raymond  of  Antioch  and 
the  counts  of  Edessa  and  TripoH. 

The  conference  determined  to  attempt  the  capture 
of  Damascus.  The  Christians  quickly  invested  that 
place.  It  was  defended  on  the  east  and  south  by 
high  walls,  but  was  more  exposed  on  the  north  and 
west.  Here  the  richness  of  the  Syrian  oasis  burst 
into  a  vast  garden,  watered  by  crystal  streams  from 
the  Antilibanus.  The  extended  plain  was  divided 
into  numerous  private  possessions  by  walls  of  baked 
earth,  between  which  a  dense  growth  of  trees  left 
scarcely  more  than  foot-paths.  In  spite  of  the  showers 
of  arrows  that  greeted  them  at  every  dividing  wall, 
the  Christians  steadily  made  their  way.  In  the  front 
ranks  was  the  young  King  of  Jerusalem,  with  his 
redoubtable  Knights  of  St.  John  and  Knights  Tem- 
plars. The  King  of  France  pressed  next  with  his 
braves,  eager  to  redeem  by  splendid  victory  the  dis- 
aster of  their  coming.  The  German  emperor,  with 
such  meagre  remnant  of  his  arm.y  as  he  could  muster, 
protected  the  rear.  At  the  Httle  river  which  flows 
beneath  the  western  wall  of  the  city  the  invaders  met 
their  first  check.  Here  Conrad  performed  the  one 
deed  creditable  to  his  career  since  leaving  Germany. 
With  his  little  band  he  passed  through  the  forward 
ranks  and  fell  upon  the  enemy.  The  Saracens,  seeing 
that  the  day  was  lost  if  the  fight  continued  general, 
sent  a  gigantic  warrior  to  challenge  the  German  hero 
to  single  combat.  The  two  armies  watched  the  fight. 
Conrad  unhorsed  and  slew  his  antagonist.  The 
Saracens  then  prepared  to  abandon  their  city.    Arabic 


Divisions  among  Crusaders.  i  75 


chroniclers  describe  the  humiliation  of  their  brethren 
as  they  prostrated  themselves  upon  heaps  of  ashes, 
and  in  the  great  mosque  of  Damascus  sat  round 
Omar's  copy  of  the  Koran,  invoking  the  help  of  their 
Prophet. 

The  Christians,  confident  of  the  issue,  fell  to  dis- 
puting the  sovereignty  of  the  as  yet  unconquered 
city.  It  was  awarded  to  Thierri  of  Alsace,  Count  of 
Flanders.  This  decision  instantly  produced  jealousy, 
and  all  concert  of  action  was  at  an  end.  The  warriors 
of  Syria  hated  the  Germans  and  Franks,  who  had 
come  to  eat  the  fruit  of  victory  as  well  as  to  help 
gather  it.  At  once  the  assault  ceased.  The  wily 
Saracen  commander,  fcuniliar  with  the  divisions  in  the 
Christian  camp,  took  advantage  of  them.  He  de- 
clared that  in  the  event  of  the  siege  being  pressed  he 
would  turn  over  the  city  to  Nourredin  of  Mosul, 
an  enemy  v.-hose  power  and  daring  would  make  the 
occupancy  of  Damascus  fatal  to  the  existence  of  the 
Christian  kingdom  of  Jerusalem.  Mussulman  writers 
aver  that  King  Baldwin  was  also  directly  bribed  by 
the  people  of  Damascus;  Latin  writers  accuse  the 
Templars  of  perfidy.  It  is  evident  that  none  of  the 
leaders  cared  to  conquer  Damascus  if  its  possession 
was  not  to  be  his  portion. 

In  the  dilemma  the  Syrians  advised  a  change  of 
base.  The  rage  and  cupidity  of  the  various  parties 
blinded  all  to  the  stupidity  of  this  plan.  The  army 
swung  round  from  the  gardens  they  had  conquered, 
and  faced  the  impregnable  walls  that  rose  from  the 
desert  side.  With  neither  water  nor  natural  protec- 
tion, lliey  camped  in  the  open,  arid  plain.     At  thii? 


I  '](i  The  Second  Crttsade. 

juncture  twenty  thousand  Turkomans  and  Kurds 
arrived  and  joined  the  defenders.  Among  the  Sara- 
cens was  Ayoub,  the  founder  of  the  dynasty  of 
Ayoubites,  and  with  him  his  son  Saladin,  afterwards 
to  become  the  most  famous  of  Moslem  leaders,  then 
a  lad  of  thirteen  years,  who  was  here  to  receive  his 
first  baptism  of  blood  as  he  saw  his  eldest  brother 
slain  in  a  sortie. 

The  succor  received  by  the  enemy  led  the  Chris- 
tians to  raise  the  siege  as  ignominiously  as  they  had 
bravely  begun  it.  Conrad  in  disgust  returned  to 
Germany.  Louis  remained  a  year  longer,  vainly 
seeking  some  enterprise  in  which  to  brighten  his 
sword.  It  was  not  until  his  barons  and  knights  had 
deserted  him,  and  his  minister,  Suger,  in  the  name  of 
the  French  nation,  had  urged  his  return,  that  in  July, 
1 149,  he  sailed  from  St.  Jean  d'Acre. 

Europe  felt  the  shame  of  the  ill-advised  second 
crusade.  The  discredit  fell  sorely  upon  its  chief 
advocate.  Bernard  was  compelled  to  lead  Christen- 
dom in  the  Miserere  rather  than  the  Te  Deum.  "  We 
have  fallen  on  evil  days,"  he  exclaimed,  "  in  which 
the  Lord,  provoked  by  our  sins,  has  judged  the  world 
with  justice,  indeed,  but  not  with  His  wonted  mercy." 
The  saint  seems  almost  to  have  lost  his  faith.  "  Why," 
he  cried,  "  has  not  God  regarded  our  fasts,  and  ap- 
peared to  know  nothing  of  our  humiliations?  With 
what  patience  is  He  now  listening  to  the  sacrilegious 
and  blasphemous  voices  of  the  nations  of  Arabia,  who 
accuse  Him  of  having  led  His  people  into  the  desert 
that  they  might  perish !  All  the  world  knows  that 
the  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  just,  but  this  is  so 


Adbc  Sugci\  177 

profound  an  abyss  that  he  is  happy  who  has  not  been 
disgraced  by  it." 

The  only  one  who  benefited  b}-  the  movement 
was  Suger,  whose  repute  for  wisdom  was  exalted  not 
only  by  the  fact  that  he  had  uttered  his  warning 
against  the  undertaking,  but  more  by  the  skill  with 
wiiich  he  had  ccMiductcd  the  aflairs  of  the  kingdom 
during  the  absence  of  its  nominal  head.  He  died  not 
long  after  the  disasters  he  predicted,  leaving  France 
more  prosperous  than  before.  Of  him  it  is  signifi- 
cantly said  that  "  he  served  faithfully  a  young  king 
without  losing  his  friendship."  Foreign  visitors  to 
Paris  called  him  the  "Solomon  of  his  age."  Louis 
VII.  paid  him  a  filial  compliment  by  naming  him  the 
"father  of  his  country."  His  friend  Bernard  soon 
followed  him  to  the  grave,  having  won  the  honorable 
distinction  of  the  "last  father  of  the  church." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

NOURREDIN — RISE    OF    SALADIN — KING   GUY — 
QUEEN    SIBYLLA. 

HE  return  of  the  two  royal  crusaders  was 
not  so  much  of  an  affliction  to  the  king- 
dom of  Jerusalem  as  it  was  felt  to  be  a 
disgrace  to  their  own  nations.  Relieved 
of  their  rivalry,  King  Baldwin  III.  took 
counsel  of  his  own  ambition  to  avenge  the  recent 
disasters.  He  found  himself  pitted  against  the  most 
astute  leader  the  Moslem  cause  had  yet  produced. 
Nourredin  had  swept  like  a  cyclone  over  Mesopotamia 
and  northern  Syria,  had  conquered  all  his  competi- 
tors, and  established  his  throne  at  Damascus.  Leav- 
ing Ayoub,  the  father  of  Saladin,  as  governor,  he  was 
pouring  his  invincible  warriors  southward. 

Nourredin  was  more  than  a  soldier;  he  had  mas- 
tered much  of  the  science  of  the  age,  and  displayed 
a  statesman's  clemency  and  justice  in  administration. 
As  a  thorough  religionist  he  held  his  power  in  stew- 
ardship of  his  cause  and  refused  all  personal  emolu- 
ment from  his  position.  His  wife  once  complained 
of  the  trivial  value  of  his  gifts  to  her;  he  replied,  "  I 
have  naught  else,  for  all  I  have  I  hold  only  as  treasure 

178 


Nourredin — Baldwin — Amaury.       1 79 

for  the  faithful."  He  treated  his  soldiers  as  his  chil- 
dren ;  if  any  of  them  fell  in  battle  he  made  their 
families  his  care,  anticipating  thus  the  modern  system 
of  army  pensions. 

Baldwin  III.,  undeterred  by  the  greatness  of  his 
rival,  besieged  and  captured  Ascalon,  whose  wealth 
suggested  the  Arabic  title  of  the  "  Spouse  of  Syria  " 
(August  12,  I  153).  I'^our  years  later  he  assaulted 
Caesarea  on  ihe  Orontes,  and  would  have  gained  the 
place  but  for  the  outburst  of  the  chronic  jealousy 
among  the  Christians.  In  1159  he  obtained  for  wife 
Theodora,  niece  of  the  Emperor  Manuel  of  Constan- 
tinople, and  with  her  munificent  dowry  the  alliance 
of  the  Greeks.  Manuel  appeared  in  Syria  with  an 
enormous  army,  which,  however,  accomplished  little 
and  withdrew,  having  been  quickly  appeased  by  the 
shrewdness  of  Nourredin,  or,  as  some  say,  having 
been  frightened  by  news  of  insurrection  in  Constan- 
tinople. 

Nourredin  then  extended  his  ravages,  avoiding 
direct  encounter  with  Baldwin,  who  died  February 
10,  1 163,  and  is  said  to  have  been  poisoned  by  the 
court  physician  at  Antioch.  The  magnanimity  of 
Nourredin  and  his  appreciation  of  the  character  of 
young  Baldwin  were  illustrated  by  his  reply  to  those 
who  urged  this  as  an  opportune  time  for  assault  upon 
Jerusalem  :  "  No  ;  we  should  pity  this  people's  sorrow, 
for  they  have  lost  a  prince  whose  like  is  not  now  left 
in  the  world." 

Amaury  (Amalric)  succeeded  his  brother,  Baldwin 
III.,  on  the  throne.  Had  his  gains  equalled  his  am- 
bition, his  power  would  have  dominated  far  beyond 


1 80     Palestine  after  the  Second  Crusade. 

any  boundaries  the  Christian  sword  had  as  yet  set  to 
the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem. 

The  Moslem  world  was  nominally  divided  between 
the  Syrian  caliph  of  Bagdad  and  the  Egyptian  caliph 
of  Cairo.  Egypt  was  wretchedly  governed.  The 
caliph  of  Cairo  was  but  a  creature  of  his  viziers. 
Amaury,  seeing  the  possibility  of  extending  his  do- 
mains to  the  Nile,  took  arms  against  him.  In  1163 
he  sent  an  army  which  might  have  held  the  country, 
had  it  not  been  driven  out  by  the  enemy's  flooding 
the  valley  of  the  Nile.  One  party  in  Egypt  invoked 
the  assistance  of  Nourredin,  who  sent  as  his  general 
Shirkuh  the  Kurd,  uncle  of  Saladin.  Amaury  ac- 
complished against  him  the  capture  of  Pelusium  in 
1 164.  In  1 167  he  took  Alexandria,  commanded  at 
the  time  by  young  Saladin.  He  later  penetrated  to 
Cairo  and  laid  El  Fostat  in  ashes.  In  1 168  Shirkuh 
renewed  the  war.  Amaury,  marching  from  Egypt 
to  meet  his  antagonist  in  the  desert,  was  flanked  by 
that  general,  who  suddenly  occupied  the  land  left 
undefended.  Amaury,  who  had  married  a  niece  of 
the  Emperor  Manuel,  made  with  the  Greeks  an  un- 
successful attack  upon  Damietta.  Here  the  Christians 
felt  the  hand  of  one  who  was  destined  ultimately  to 
overthrow  all  their  power  in  the  East.  Saladin  was 
in  command.  On  the  death  of  Shirkuh  he  had  been 
appointed  vizier  by  the  caliph  of  Cairo.  The  caliph, 
wearied  of  being  controlled  by  designing  and  capable 
men  who  absorbed  in  their  own  interests  the  power 
they  defended,  selected  Saladin,  thinking  that  the 
young  man's  inexperience  would  be  less  of  a  menace 
to  the  caliphate. 


Rise  of  Saladin.  1 8 1 


Nourredin,  however,  divined  the  genius  of  the 
young  vizier  and  assigned  to  him  the  supreme  com- 
mand in  Egypt.  lie  then  deposed  the  caHph,  and 
with  his  reign  brought  to  an  end  the  dynasty  of  the 
Fatimites,  which  for  two  hundred  years  had  held  the 
land  of  the  Nile.  Thus  Nourredin  ruled  supreme 
from  Babylonia  to  the  desert  of  Libya.  Only  the 
kingdom  of  Jerusalem  marred  the  map  of  his  domin- 
ion. To  reconquer  this  for  Islam  was  his  incessant 
purpose.  With  his  own  hands  he  made  a  pulpit,  from 
which  he  promised  the  faithful  one  day  to  preach  in 
the  mosque  of  Omar  on  the  temple  site. 

But  the  Moslem  world  was  already  attached  to  one 
destined  to  be  greater  than  Nourredin.  The  youth 
of  Saladin  had  been  one  of  apparent  indolence  and 
dissipation,  but  he  veiled  beneath  his  indiflference  the 
finest  genius  and  most  unbounded  ambition.  As 
soon  as  he  felt  the  possession  of  power  he  assumed  a 
corresponding  dignity,  and  men  recognized  him  as 
one  appointed  of  Heaven.  Turbulent  emirs,  who  had 
ignored  him  as  a  chance  holder  of  position,  now  sat 
reverently  before  him.  Even  the  priests  were  struck 
with  the  sincere  austerity  of  his  devotion.  The  caliph 
of  Bagdad  bestowed  upon  him  the  distinguished  dig- 
nity of  the  vest  of  honor.  Poets  began  to  mingle  his 
name  with  those  of  heroes  as  the  rising  star.  The 
pious  included  it  in  their  prayers  as  the  hope  of  Islam. 

Knowing  that  experience  is  often  wiser  than  genius, 
Saladin  judiciously  guarded  himself  from  the  errors 
of  youth  by  associating  his  father,  Ayoub,  with  him 
in  the  government  of  Egypt.  Nourredin,  whose  suc- 
cessful career  had  allowed  him  no  jealousy  of  ordi- 


i82    Palesthie  after  the  Second  Crusade. 

nary  men,  showed  that  he  was  restless  at  the  popular- 
ity and  ability  displayed  by  his  young  subaltern,  and 
was  preparing  to  take  Egypt  under  his  own  immedi- 
ate government  when  death,  his  first  vanquisher,  came 
upon  the  veteran  (May,  1 1  74).  Saladin  immediately 
proclaimed  himself  Sultan  of  Egypt,  and  hastened  to 
secure  the  succession  of  Nourredin's  power  as  Sultan 
of  Damascus. 

Two  months  later  (July,  1 1 74)  Amaury  followed 
his  great  competitor  to  the  grave,  and  the  kingdom 
of  Jerusalem  fell  to  his  son,  Baldwin  IV.,  a  leprous 
lad  of  thirteen  years.  The  personal  contrast  of  this 
sovereign  with  Saladin  was  ominous  of  the  contrast 
between  the  coming  history  of  the  two  powers  they 
respectively  led.  The  education  of  Baldwin  was  con- 
ducted by  William  of  Tyre,  the  chief  historian  of  this 
period.  The  regency  of  the  kingdom  was  disputed 
by  Milo  de  Plausy  and  Raymond,  Count  of  Tripoli. 
Raymond  was  great-grandson  of  Raymond  of  Tou- 
louse, the  renov/ned  leader  of  the  first  crusade,  and 
inherited,  together  with  his  ancestor's  bravery,  his 
impatience  and  passion  for  personal  precedence.  He 
deemed  that  he  had  a  right  to  the  highest  emoluments 
of  the  kingdom  as  compensation  for  having  suffered 
eight  years'  imprisonment  among  the  Infidels.  Milo 
was  elected  regent  by  the  barons,  but  was  shortly 
afterwards  assassinated  by  unknown  hands  on  the 
street.  Raymond  succeeded  to  the  regency.  The 
suspicion  of  having  instigated  the  murder  of  his  rival 
was  supplemented  by  a  later  suspicion  that  he  secretly 
betrayed  the  Christian  cause  in  the  interest  of  Saladin. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  believe  this,  as  the  prowess  of 


Baldwin  IT.  183 


the  new  ruler  of  Egypt  is  sufficient  to  account  for  his 
successes.  Raymond  was  unwise  in  his  movements ; 
he  busied  himself  with  a  wretched  attempt  upon 
Alexandria,  and  then  made  truce  with  Saladin  in  the 
north  just  at  a  moment  when  peace  enabled  the 
young  Saracen  to  strengthen  his  power  over  his 
Mohammedan  neighbors. 

In  time  Baldwin  IV.  took  the  reins  into  his  own 
hands.  Saladin  was  pouring  his  forces  over  the  Holy 
Land.  His  newly  organized  troop  of  Mamelukes 
formed  his  body-guard.  Baldwin  shut  himself  up  in 
Ascalon,  but  soon  the  general  devastation  of  his  king- 
dom maddened  the  Christians  to  desperation.  They 
issued  from  Ascalon  with  such  fury  that  the  Egyp- 
tian army  was  swept  from  the  field  and  but  few  of 
Saladin's  soldiers  lived  to  accompany  their  young 
leader  back  to  Cairo. 

This  defeat,  far  from  depressing  the  courage  of 
Saladin,  only  taught  him  new  lessons  of  caution. 
Little  by  little  his  sword  carved  away  the  Christian 
kingdom,  until  Baldwin  was  forced  to  sign  a  truce. 
Renaud,  Lord  of  Carac,  broke  this  compact,  and  with 
the  aid  of  an  army  of  Templars  plundered  the  Moslem 
caravans,  massacring  defenceless  men  and  capturing 
the  women.  Me  made  an  incursion  as  far  as  Arabia, 
and  announced  his  purpose  of  going  to  Mecca  to 
plunder  the  tomb  of  the  Prophet.  But  the  swift 
riders  of  Saladin  were  upon  his  track.  Renaud 
barely  escaped,  many  of  his  troops  being  captured. 
Most  of  these  were  put  to  death  in  Egypt,  a  few 
being  reserved  as  victims  in  the  annual  sacrifice  at 
Mecca.     Saladin  was  infuriated  by  Renaud's  breach 


1 84    Palestine  after  the  Second  C^msade. 


of  faith,  and  won  the  title  of  "  Scourge  of  God,"  even 
among  the  Christians,  by  the  swift  and  fearful  re- 
taliation which  he  took  upon  the  cities  of  northern 
Palestine. 

The  increasing  leprosy  of  Baldwin  rendered  him 
incapable  of  discharging  his  royal  duties.  A  sort  of 
political  leprosy  or  dry-rot  seemed  to  infect  the  state. 
The  crown  retained  its  shape,  but  not  its  lustre,  for 
it  could  not  control  the  internecine  strife  of  the  Chris- 
tian barons,  who  waged  war  upon  one  another  from 
their  mountain  fastnesses.  The  Hospitallers  and 
Templars,  too,  combined  against  the  priesthood,  and 
hooted  and  shot  at  them  as  they  went  to  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  The  priests  retaliated  by 
gathering  the  arrows  and  placing  them  on  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  calling  heaven  to  avenge  the  insult  offered 
to  its  ministers.  The  various  nations  represented  by 
the  influx  of  pilgrims  added  to  the  confusion  by  reviv- 
ing in  Palestine  the  prejudices  of  sections  of  Europe. 
Vice  everywhere  had  open  license.  William  of  Tyre, 
in  describing  the  condition  of  affairs,  drops  his  pen, 
lest  his  readers  should  accuse  him  of  defaming  human 
nature  by  his  recital.  Agents  were  sent  to  the  courts 
of  Europe,  appealing  for  succor  to  the  kingdom,  which 
was  falling  to  pieces  in  punishment  of  its  own  demer- 
its. The  piety  of  Christendom  made  no  response 
except  in  pity  for  a  government  which  they  called 
"  Christ's  Second  Crown  of  Thorns." 

Baldwin  IV.  died  in  1185.  Baldwin  V.,  a  child, 
had  been  crowned  as  his  successor  two  years  before. 
This  prince  was  the  child  of  Sibylla  by  her  first  hus- 
band, the  Marquis  of  Montferrat.     Since  the  death  of 


Sibylla  and  King  Guy.  185 

the  marquis  she  had  married  Guy  of  Lusignan.  Little 
King"  Baldwin  died  a  year  later  (i  186).  Sibylla  was 
accused  of  ha\ing  poisoned  her  own  child  to  ad- 
vance her  new  husband's  interest.  The  suspicion 
was  not  lessened  by  her  adoption  of  a  disgraceful  ruse 
to  gain  for  Guy  the  vacant  throne.  As  the  daughter 
of  one  king  of  Jerusalem  and  sister  of  another,  she 
might  have  held  the  sovereignty  but  for  the  opposi- 
tion to  Gu}',  whom  she  associated  with  herself  in  the 
government.  She  proposed  to  the  chiefs  that  she 
should  divorce  Guy,  saying,  "  If  a  divorce  takes  place 
between  me  and  my  husband,  I  wish  you  to  make  me 
sure  by  your  oaths  that  whomsoever  I  shall  make 
choice  of  for  my  husband  you  will  choose  for  your 
head  and  lord."  She  then  swore  that  she  would 
award  him  whom  she  regarded  as  the  ablest  defender 
of  Jerusalem  with  her  hand  and  crown.  This  was 
agreed  to.  The  patriarch  solemnly  announced  her 
divorce  and  placed  the  crown  in  her  hands.  Sibylla, 
to  the  surprise  of  all,  turned  to  Guy  and,  placing  the 
crown  upon  his  head,  boldly  declared,  "  I  make  choice 
of  thee  as  king  and  as  my  lord ;  for  whom  God  hath 
joined  together  let  not  man  put  asunder."  The  au- 
dacity of  Sibylla  apparently  cowed  the  warriors  about 
her;  they  acquiesced,  and  some  even  applauded  the 
cleverness  of  her  deceit. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

BATTLE    OF    TIBERIAS — FALL    OF    JERUSALEM. 

N  the  meantime  Saladin  had  gathered  into 
his  hand  the  reins  of  Egypt  and  western 
Asia.  In  1 185  the  Christians  of  Palestine 
sent  an  appeal  for  aid  to  all  the  courts  of 
Europe.  The  imminence  and  magnitude 
of  the  danger  led  them  to  select  the  most  important 
dignitaries  as  their  messengers :  Heraclius,  the  Patri- 
arch of  Jerusalem,  together  with  the  Grand  Masters 
of  the  Hospitallers  and  Templars.  The  ambassadors 
offered  the  crown  of  Jerusalem  to  King  Henry  H.  of 
England,  presenting  him  with  the  keys  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  and  of  the  tower  of  David.  The  appeal  of 
the  East  was  seconded  by  Pope  Lucius,  whose  letter 
to  Henry  shows  that  Europe  dreaded  as  much  as  it 
pretended  to  despise  the  new  Moslem  leader.  The 
letter  read :  "  For  Saladin,  the  most  inhuman  perse- 
cutor, has  arisen  to  such  a  pitch  in  his  fury  that,  un- 
less the  vehement  onset  of  his  wickedness  is  checked, 
he  may  entertain  an  assured  hope  that  all  the  Jordan 
will  flow  into  his  mouth,  and  the  land  be  polluted  by 
his  most  abominable  superstitions,  and  the  country 
once  more  be  subjected  to  the  accursed  dominion  of 

186 


The  Field  of  Tiberias.  1 8  7 

the  most  nefarious  tyrant.  By  the  sorrows  thus  im- 
minent, we  entreat  your  Mightiness  with  a  palpitating 
heart,"  etc.  But  neither  King  Henry's  conscience 
nor  his  hope  of  gaining  a  brighter  crown  in  heaven 
was  sunkient  to  hire  him  from  projects  nearer  home. 

Saladin  quickly  verified  the  Pope's  estimate  of  his 
ability.  In  May,  1187,  he  overthrew  the  Templars 
in  a  battle  at  Nazareth.  With  eighty  thousand  horse 
he  then  invested  and  crushed  Tiberias  on  Galilee. 
The  citadel  of  this  place  alone  remained  untaken. 
The  Christians  massed  fifty  thousand  men  on  the 
plain  of  Hattin,  above  the  city,  for  one  supreme  en- 
deavor. The  boldest  feared  the  result.  The  sight 
of  the  wood  of  the  True  Cross  gave  a  martyr  courage 
rather  than  hope  of  success.  Raymond,  whose  bra- 
very no  man  questioned,  made  an  address  to  the  as- 
sembled barons,  counselling  retreat.  He  said :  "  In 
this  army  is  the  only  hope  left  to  the  Christians  of 
the  East.  Here  are  gathered  all  the  soldiers  of  Christ, 
all  the  defenders  of  Jerusalem.  The  archers  of  Sal- 
adin are  more  skilful  than  ours,  his  cavalry  more 
numerous  and  better  trained.  Let  us  abandon  Tibe- 
rias and  save  the  army."  To  lose  that  battle  in  the 
open  plain  would  be,  as  Raymond  foresaw,  to  lose 
everything.  To  retreat  might  force  the  enemy  to 
fight  against  strongholds,  when  the  advantage  would 
be  on  the  Christians'  side. 

This  discreet  counsel  of  the  veteran  was  derided 
by  the  Master  of  the  Templars,  who  openly  taunted 
Raymond  with  some  secret  alliance  with  Saladin. 
Raymond  rejoined,  "  I  will  submit  to  the  punishment 
of  death  if  these  things  do  not  fall  out  as  I  have  said." 


1 88    Palestine  after  the  Second  Crtisade. 

The  barons  were  for  following  the  advice  of  the  vet- 
eran, but  King  Guy,  after  various  changes  of  mind, 
gave  the  fatal  order  for  battle. 

The  day  (July  4,  1 187)  was  excessively  hot.  The 
Christians,  worn  out  with  the  march,  advanced  to  the 
fight,  sustained  chiefly  by  the  desperation  of  their 
resolve.  The  Mussulmans  occupied  the  vantage- 
ground  on  the  hills  which  make  the  western  shore  of 
the  Lake  of  Tiberias,  and  welcomed  their  adversaries' 
approach  with  a  furious  discharge  of  arrows.  Then 
suddenly,  as  lightning  through  a  pelting  storm,  the 
white  turbans  and  cimeters  of  the  Saracen  cavalry, 
led  by  Saladin  in  person,  flashed  across  the  field.  In 
the  language  of  the  Arabic  chronicler :  "  Then  the 
sons  of  paradise  and  the  children  of  fire  settled  their 
terrible  quarrel.  Arrows  hurtled  in  the  air  like  a  noisy 
flight  of  sparrows,  and  the  blood  of  warriors  dripped 
upon  the  ground  like  rain." 

The  True  Cross,  which  had  animated  the  Christians' 
courage,  was  an  occasion  of  their  weakness ;  for,  de- 
spairing of  victory  through  their  own  valor,  they 
sought  the  protection  of  the  emblem  of  their  rehgion. 
Saladin  said  afterwards  that  the  Franks  flew  round  the 
cross  like  moths  round  a  Hght.  Again  and  again  the 
sultan  drove  his  squadrons  through  the  thickest  ranks 
of  his  opponents,  and  would  that  day  have  sealed 
the  Christians'  fate  had  not  night  given  recess  to  the 
battle.  During  the  darkness  the  Christians  closed 
their  ranks  in  dense  array.  The  Saracens,  having 
superior  numbers,  adopted  the  opposite  plan  and  ex- 
tended their  lines,  so  that  when  morning  broke  they 
surrounded   their   antagonists   on   every   side.     The 


Crusaders'  Overt hroiu  at  Tiberias.      189 

Christians  in  vain  tried  to  break  the  cordon,  which 
was  steadily  drawing  closer  and  closer,  limiting  the 
space  within  it  as  one  by  one  the  doomed  knights 
fell.  The  Saracens  fired  the  grass  of  the  plain. 
Swords  flashed  through  the  lurid  smoke,  and  the 
bravest,  whom  arms  could  not  daunt,  dropped  from 
suffocation.  The  Templars  and  Hospitallers  main- 
tained the  battle  all  day  long,  rallying  about  the 
cross;  but  that  symbol  was  ultimately  taken.  It 
was  being  borne  by  Rufinus,  Bishop  of  Acre,  when 
he  fell,  pierced  with  an  arrow.  Says  a  contemporary 
writer:  "  This  was  done  through  the  righteous  judg- 
ment of  God ;  for,  contrary  to  the  usage  of  his  pred- 
ecessors, having  greater  faith  in  worldly  arms  than 
in  heavenly  ones,  he  went  forth  to  battle  equipped  in 
a  coat  of  mail." 

Guy  was  a  captive,  together  with  the  Master  of  the 
Templars  and  many  of  the  most  celebrated  knights, 
who  had  failed  to  find  death,  though  they  sought  it, 
Raymond  cut  his  way  through  the  line  of  Saracens, 
who  praised  his  amazing  valor  as  they  witnessed  his 
exploit,  while  the  Christians  denounced  him  for  con- 
nivance with  the  foe. 

A  scene  followed  which  showed  the  temper  of 
Saladin.  The  conqueror  received  King  Guy  and  his 
surviving  nobles  in  a  manner  to  lessen,  if  possible, 
their  chagrin  for  the  disaster.  He  presented  to  the 
king  a  great  goblet  filled  with  drink,  which  had  been 
cooled  in  the  snows  from  the  Lebanons.  Having 
drunk  from  it,  Guy  passed  the  cup  to  Renaud,  the 
man  who  had  violated  the  truce  in  former  years. 
Saladin  could  be  magnanimous  to  a  worthy  antago- 


1 90    Palestine  after  the  Second  Crusade. 

nist.  So  great  was  his  self-command  that  he  observed 
the  most  punctihous  etiquette  even  in  the  rage  of  a 
hand-to-hand  fight.  But  to  the  false  and  treacherous 
he  could  show  no  mercy.  The  sight  of  the  truce- 
breaker  fired  him  with  uncontrollable  frenzy ;  he  ex- 
claimed, "That  traitor  shall  not  drink  in  my  presence." 
He  gave  Renaud  the  instant  choice  of  death  or  ac- 
ceptance of  the  rehgion  of  Mohammed.  Renaud  re- 
fused to  subscribe  the  Koran.  Saladin  smote  him 
with  the  side  of  his  sabre,  a  mark  of  his  contempt. 
At  a  signal  a  common  soldier  swirled  his  cimeter,  and 
the  head  of  Renaud  fell  at  King  Guy's  feet. 

Towards  the  Templars  and  Hospitallers  the  sultan 
had  conceived  similar  hatred  from  the  conviction  that 
they  regarded  their  covenants  with  their  enemies  too 
lightly.  As  these  knights  of  the  white  and  the  red 
cross  were  led  past  him  Saladin  remarked,  "  I  will 
deliver  the  earth  of  these  two  unclean  races."  He 
bade  his  emirs  each  slay  a  knight  with  his  own  hand. 
Neither  the  defenceless  condition  of  the  captives  nor 
the  protestation  of  his  warriors  against  this  cruelty 
produced  any  compunction  in  the  breast  of  the  res- 
olute conqueror. 

Four  days  later  St.  Jean  d'  Acre  fell  under  Saladin's 
assault ;  but  the  people  were  spared  and  allowed  to 
depart  with  all  their  movable  property.  The  churches 
were  converted  into  mosques,  and  resounded  with 
prayers  and  thanksgiving  to  the  Prophet.  The  yellow 
flag  of  Saladin  soon  floated  from  the  walls  of  Jericho, 
Ramleh,  Arsuf,  Jaffa,  and  Beirut.  Ascalon  resisted 
for  a  while,  in  spite  of  the  threats  of  the  conqueror 
and  the  entreaty  of  his  prisoner.  King  Guy,  that  the 


Fa  II  of  Jcrusa  km.  191 


garrison  should  not  prolong  the  useless  conflict.  The 
defenders  of  the  city  refused  submission  unless  the 
victor  should  pledge  the  safety  of  the  women  and 
children  and  the  liberty  of  the  king.  Saladin  honored 
their  bravery  by  acceding  to  these  conditions,  and 
Ascalon  became  his  possession  (September  4th). 

Two  weeks  later  (September  18th)  his  troops  in- 
vested Jerusalem.    Sending  for  the  principal  inhabi- 
tants, he  said  to  them  :  "  I,  as  well  as  you,  acknowledge 
Jerusalem  to  be  the  house  of  God;  I  will  not  defile 
its  sanctity  with  blood  if  I  can  gain  it  by  peace  and 
love.     Surrender  it  by  your  Whitsuntide,  and  I  will 
bestow  upon  you  liberty  to  go  where  you  will,  with 
provisions  in  plenty  and  as  much  land  as  you  can 
cultivate."     The  reply  of  the  Christians  was  valiant : 
"  We  cannot  yield  the  city  in  which  died  our  God ; 
still  less  can  we  sell  it  to  you."     Saladin  then  swore 
to  avenge  the  slaughter  perpetrated  by  the  Christians 
upon  the  Moslems  when,   under  Godfrey,  the  first 
crusaders  had  captured  Jerusalem  and  massacred  its 
inhabitants. 

The  assault  was  furious  and  met  with  equal  valor. 
Within  and  without,  the  walls  were  fairly  buttressed 
with  the  bodies  of  the  fallen.  It  was  not  until  the 
principal  gate  was  undermined,  the  ramparts  totter- 
ing, and  the  soldiers  of  Saladin  occupying  some  of  the 
towers,  that  Balian  d'Iselin,  the  commandant,  pro- 
posed to  accept  the  conditions  the  Christians  had 
rejected  before  the  fight.  "  It  is  too  late."^  replied 
Saladin,  pointing  to  his  yellow  banners,  which  pro- 
claimed his  occupancy  of  many  places  along  the  walls. 
"Very  well,"  repHed  Bahan ;  "we  will  destroy  the 


192     Palestine  after  the  Second  Crusade. 


city.  The  mosque  of  Omar,  and  the  mysterious 
Stone  of  Jacob  which  you  worship,  shall  be  pounded 
into  dust.  Five  thousand  Moslems  whom  we  retain 
shall  be  killed.  We  will  then  slay  with  our  own  hands 
our  wives  and  children,  and  march  out  to  you  with 
fire  and  sword.  Not  one  of  us  will  go  to  paradise 
until  he  has  sent  ten  Mussulmans  to  hell."  Saladin 
again  bowed  to  the  bravery  which  he  might  have 
punished,  and  accepted  the  capitulation  (October  2, 
1 187). 

The  Christian  warriors  were  permitted  to  retire  to 
Tripoli  or  Tyre,  cities  as  yet  unconquered  by  Saladin. 
The  inhabitants  were  to  be  ransomed  at  a  nominal 
sum  of  money  for  each.  Many,  however,  in  their 
poverty  could  not  produce  the  required  amount.  The 
fact,  reported  to  the  victor,  led  to  a  deed  on  his  part 
which  showed  his  natural  kindliness,  together  with  the 
exactness  of  his  rule.  The  ransom  money  could  not 
be  remitted ;  it  belonged  of  right  to  the  men  whose 
heroism  had  been  blessed  of  Allah  in  taking  the  city. 
Saladin  and  his  brother,  Malek-Ahdel,  paid  from 
their  own  purses  the  redemption  money  for  several 
thousand  Christians,  who  otherwise,  according  to  the 
usages  of  war,  would  have  become  the  slaves  of  their 
conquerors. 

On  the  day  for  the  evacuation  of  the  city  Saladin 
erected  his  throne  at  the  Gate  of  David  to  review  the 
wretched  army  of  the  vanquished  as  it  passed  out. 
First  came  the  patriarch  and  priests,  carrying  the 
sacred  vessels  and  treasures  of  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre.  Next  followed  Queen  Sibylla  with 
the  remnant  of  her  court.      Saladin  saluted  her  with 


Maj^7ianivi ity  of  Saladin.  1 93 

great  courtesy,  and  added  words  of  seemingly  genuine 
consolation  as  he  noted  her  grief.  Mothers  carried 
their  children,  and  strong  men  bore  the  aged  and  sick 
in  their  arms.  Some  paused  to  address  the  sultan, 
asking  that  members  of  their  families  from  whom  they 
were  separated  might  be  restored  to  them.  Saladin 
instantly  ordered  that  in  no  case  should  children  be 
separated  from  their  mothers,  nor  husbands  from  their 
wives.  He  permitted  the  Hospitallers  to  remain  in 
the  city  on  condition  of  their  resuming  those  duties 
which  their  order  was  originally  instituted  to  perform, 
and  committed  to  them  the  care  of  the  sick  who  could 
not  endure  being  removed.  Many  writers  are  dis- 
posed to  analyze  the  motives  of  Saladin  and  to  attrib- 
ute his  clemency  to  politic  foresight  in  subduing  the 
hatred  as  well  as  the  arms  of  his  enemies.  But  surely 
the  annals  of  war  are  too  barren  of  such  acts  of  hu- 
manity to  allow  us  to  mar  the  beauty  of  the  simple 
narration ;  and  the  virtues  of  Christians  in  such  cir- 
cumstances have  not  been  so  resplendent  that  they 
may  not  emulate  the  spirit  of  one  who  was  their 
noblest  foe. 

The  new  lord  of  Jerusalem  purged  the  sacred  city 
of  what  to  him  was  the  taint  of  idolatry,  the  worship 
of  Jesus.  The  mosque  of  Omar  on  the  temple  site 
was  washed  within  and  without  with  rose-water.  The 
pulpit  which  Nourredin  had  made  with  his  own  hands 
was  erected  by  the  side  of  the  mihrab,  towards  which 
the  people  prayed  as  indicating  the  direction  of  Mecca. 
The  chief  imam  preached  from  it  on  the  glories  of 
Saladin,  "  the  resplendent  star  of  Allah,"  on  the  re- 
demption of  Jerusalem,  from  which  Mohammed  had 


194     Palestine  after  the  Second  Crusade. 

made  his  miraculous  night  journey  to  Mecca,  and  on 
the  holy  war,  which  must  be  continued  until  "  all 
the  branches  of  impiety  should  be  cut  "  from  the  tree 
of  life. 

The  joy  of  the  Moslem  world  had  its  refrain  in  the 
wails  of  Europe.  It  is  said  that  Pope  Urban  III.,  on 
hearing  the  news,  died  of  a  broken  heart.  The  min- 
strels composed  lamentations  as  the  captives  did  by 
the  rivers  of  Babylon.  Courts  and  churches  were 
draped  in  mourning.  The  superstitious  saw  tears  fall 
from  the  eyes  of  the  wooden  and  stone  saints  that 
ornamented  the  churches.  The  general  gloom  was 
described  by  one  who  felt  it  as  "  like  the  darkness 
over  the  earth  from  the  sixth  to  the  ninth  hour,  when 
Christ  was  crucified." 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

EUROPE  BETWEEN  THE  SECOND  AND  THIRD  CRU- 
SADES—  SUPERSTITION — ^^THE  WALDENSES  — 
DEGRADATION  OF  THE  PAPACY — FRANCE 
UNDER  LOUIS  —  ENGLAND  UNDER  HENRY  II. 
— RICHARD  CCEUR  DE  LION. 


ORTY  years  had  elapsed  since  the  ill-fated 
crusade  of  Louis  VII.  and  Conrad  (i  147) 
to  avenge  the  capture  of  Edessa  by 
Zenghi,  and  the  crowning  calamity,  the 
fall  of  Jerusalem  into  the  hands  of  Sala- 
din  (1187).  We  may  briefly  note  some  of  the  con- 
ditions and  changes  in  Europe  during  this  period. 

Men  were  thinking,  though  the  dense  darkness  of 
mediaeval  night  yet  remained,  and  the  spectres  of 
superstition  which  inhabited  the  human  mind  were 
as  many  and  as  strange  as  ever.  For  example,  the 
year  1 1 86  was  looked  for  with  alarm  by  the  people 
of  northern  Europe,  because  of  the  predictions  of  as- 
trologers that  certain  conjunctions  of  the  stars  then 
betokened  dire  evils  to  mankind.  In  the  language  of 
a  contemporary  :  "  The  planets  being  in  an  aerial  and 
windy  sign,  .  .  .  there  shall  arise  in  the  East  a  mighty 
wind,  and  with  its  stormy  blasts  it  shall  blacken  the  air 

195 


1 96      Europe  after  the  Second  Crusade. 

and  corrupt  it  with  poisonous  stench.  .  .  .  The  wind 
shall  raise  aloft  the  sands  and  dust  from  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  utterly  overwhelm  such  cities  as  Mecca, 
Baldac  [Bagdad],  and  Babylon.  The  regions  of 
Egypt  and  Ethiopia  shall  become  almost  uninhabi- 
table. In  the  West  shall  arise  dissensions,  raised  by 
the  wind,  and  seditions  of  the  people  shall  take  place  ; 
and  there  shall  be  one  of  them  who  shall  levy  armies 
innumerable,  and  shall  wage  war  on  the  shores  of  the 
waters,  on  which  a  slaughter  so  vast  will  take  place 
that  the  flow  of  blood  will  equal  the  surging  waves. 
This  conjunction  signifies  the  mutation  of  kingdoms, 
the  superiority  of  the  Franks,  the  destruction  of  the 
Saracenic  race,  together  with  longer  life  to  those  who 
shall  be  born  hereafter." 

Other  astrologers  blew  their  star-blasts  of  similar 
warning.  More  startHng  still  were  the  reported  words 
of  a  pious  monk,  which  he  chanted  while  in  a  trance, 
confirming  the  astrologers  with  rhapsodic  quotations 
from  Scripture  and  the  Greek  mythologists.  The 
popular  consternation  was  somewhat  allayed  by 
Pharamella  the  Moor,  whose  humanity  was  stronger 
than  his  religious  bigotry,  and  led  him  to  write  to  the 
Christian  Bishop  of  Toledo,  from  the  tower  on  which 
he  was  watching  the  stars,  that  their  prognostications 
of  the  "  aerial  or  windy  signs  "  were  wrong ;  but  that 
there  would  be  sufficient  force  of  evil  abroad  in  the 
atmosphere  to  produce  "  scanty  vintage,  crops  of  only 
moderate  average,  much  slaughter  by  the  sword,  and 
many  shipwrecks."  The  most  serious  chroniclers  of 
the  time  still  associated  as  effect  and  cause  the  rise 
and  fall  of  kings  and  the  issue  of  battles  with  natural 


Superstition  —  Waldejiscs.  1 9  7 

phenomena  of  comets,  eclipses,  and  storms.  Epi- 
demic madness  continued  to  see  celestial  warriors 
through  the  dust  of  earthly  combat,  and  the  ubiqui- 
tous presence  of  the  mother  of  God  in  churches  and 
cells,  in  the  silence  of  the  roadway,  and,  in  company 
with  Mary  Magdalene,  trudging  along  amid  bands  of 
pilgrims.  Men  visited  purgatory  and  returned  to  de- 
scribe its  burning  floor  and  the  writhing  shapes  of  its 
inhabitants.  Indeed,  the  human  mind  was  not  }'et 
sufficiently  awake  to  know  that  it  had  been  dreaming. 

Yet  here  and  there  were  those  who  threw  off  the 
age  delusion.  The  logic  of  Abelard  and  the  love  of 
liberty  voiced  by  Arnold  of  Brescia  roused  more  than 
one  of  the  sleepers,  who  kept  awake  and  jostled  their 
fellows. 

Thus  the  sect  of  the  Waldenses  foretokened  the 
rise  of  modern  Protestantism.  Peter  Waldo,  a  wealthy 
merchant  of  Lyons,  was  afflicted  with  the  rigors  of 
ecclesiastical  rule,  which  robbed  more  than  it  pro- 
tected the  people,  and  with  the  dogmatic  traditions 
of  the  church,  which  were  being  manipulated  as 
strangling  strings  about  the  mind.  He  threw  off 
these  restraints ;  he  devoted  his  large  fortune  to  the 
relief  of  the  poor  and  organized  a  brotherhood  of 
kindred  .spirits,  who  took  the  name  of  the  Poor  Men 
of  Lj'ons.  There  had  as  yet  been  no  attempt  to  teach 
the  masses  the  simple  religion  of  Jesus  as  contained 
in  the  Scriptures,  Jerome's  Latin  Bible  of  the  fourth 
century  being  the  only  translation  in  use.  Waldo 
secured  a  rendering  of  the  four  Gospels  into  P'rench. 
The  reading  of  this  by  the  people  led  them  to  dissent 
from  the  assumptions  of  the  Roman  Church,  to  ques- 


198      Europe  after  the  Second  Crusade. 

tion  its  sacraments,  and  to  deny  to  the  priesthood  the 
sole  prerogative  of  preaching  and  administering  reU- 
gion.  Waldo  and  his  followers  claimed  liberty  to  ex- 
pound the  Word  of  God  according  to  its  own  rules, 
and  to  interpret  its  precepts  in  the  light  of  reason  and 
prayer-illuminated  conscience. 

The  Waldenses  were  at  once  proceeded  against  by 
the  Bishop  of  Lyons  as  heretics  and  rebels.  His 
judgment  was  confirmed  by  the  anathemas  of  the 
papal  see.  Waldo  and  his  friends  fled  to  the  moun- 
tains of  Piedmont  and  Dauphine.  In  1 1  79  the  new 
doctrines  were  denounced  by  the  Third  Lateran 
Council.  Waldo  died  the  same  year,  having  lived 
long  enough  to  anticipate  in  his  own  person  the 
persecutions  which  were  to  make  his  sect  forever 
famous  among  martyrs. 

The  history  of  the  Papacy  during  this  period  was 
humiliating.  Popes  and  antipopes  strove  for  the  seat 
of  St.  Peter.  The  hierarchy  invoked  the  aid  of  the 
Emperor  of  Germany,  Frederick  Barbarossa,  to  over- 
turn the  republic  of  Rome,  which  Arnold  of  Brescia 
had  inspired.  That  leader  atoned  for  his  audacity  by 
being  hanged  and  burned.  Barbarossa  was,  however, 
equally  determined  that  the  secular  power  of  the 
popes  should  not  be  rebuilt  upon  the  ruins  of  Roman 
independence.  Italy  was  laid  waste  by  the  armies 
of  the  empire,  until  the  centre  of  Christendom  was 
disgraced  by  scenes  as  cruel  as  those  which  marked 
the  contention  of  Christian  and  Turk  in  the  East. 

France  was  scarcely  less  unfortunate.  Louis  VII., 
shortly  after  his  return  from  Palestine,  divorced  his 
queen,  Eleanor,  who  became  the  wife  of  Henry  of 


Fra  nee — Eng  la  7id.  199 

Anjou,  afterwards  Henry  II.  of  England,  and  added 
to  the  possession  of  England  the  territories  of  Aqui- 
taine  and  Poitou,  leaving  to  the  French  monarchy 
less  than  half  of  what  had  been,  and  was  again  to  be, 
the  land  of  France.  Guizot  remarks :  "  This  was  the 
only  event  under  Louis's  reign  of  any  real  importance, 
in  view  of  its  long  and  bloody  consequences  to  his 
country.  A  petty  war  or  a  sullen  strife  between  the 
kings  of  France  and  England,  petty  quarrels  of  Louis 
with  some  of  the  great  lords  of  his  kingdom,  some 
vigorous  measures  against  certain  districts,  the  first 
bubblings  of  that  religious  fermentation  which  re- 
sulted before  long,  in  the  south  of  France,  in  the  cru- 
sade against  the  Albigensians — such  were  the  facts 
which  went  to  make  up  with  somewhat  of  insipidity 
the  annals  of  this  reign."  Kingship,  on  the  death  of 
the  Abbe  Suger,  Louis's  prime  minister,  steadily  de- 
clined, until  Philip  Augustus  opened  for  it  a  new  era 
of  strength  and  progress.  Philip  had  been  seven 
years  on  the  throne  (from  1080)  at  the  time  of  the 
capture  of  Jerusalem. 

England  at  the  beginning  of  this  period  was  dis- 
tressed with  the  war  between  King  Stephen  and 
Matilda.  Churches  were  converted  into  fortifications, 
and  castles  into  prisons.  For  nineteen  years  the 
country  was  so  ravaged  by  the  contending  parties 
that,  in  the  language  of  the  contemporary  chronicler, 
"  to  till  the  ground  was  to  plough  the  sea,"  and  brave 
men,  "  sickened  with  the  unnatural  war,  put  on  the 
white  cross  and  sailed  for  a  nobler  battle-field  in  the 
East."  With  the  son  of  Matilda,  Henry  II.,  the 
dynasty  of  the  Angevins,  or  Plantagenets,  was  estab- 


200      Europe  after  the  Second  Crusade. 

lished.  Inheriting  Normandy  from  his  mother,  and 
acquiring  by  his  marriage  with  Eleanor  her  estates,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one  Henry  II.  ruled  from  the  Arctic 
Ocean  to  the  Pyrenees.  "  Though  a  foreigner,  never 
speaking  the  English  tongue,  he  seems  to  have  pos- 
sessed something  of  the  spirit  which  produced  the  sub- 
sequent Anglican  civilization.  He  abolished  feudalism 
as  a  system  of  government,  and  left  it  httle  more  than 
a  system  of  land  tenure.  It  was  he  who  defined  the 
relations  established  between  church  and  state,  and 
declared  that  in  England  churchman  as  well  as  baron 
was  to  be  held  under  the  common  law  "  (Norgate). 
Though  his  quarrel  with  and  murder  of  Thomas  a 
Becket  left  in  suspension  the  Constitutions  of  Claren- 
don, which  gave  the  kingship  preeminence  over  the 
hierarchy,  the  principles  of  that  document  were  soon 
revived.  Henry  II.  admitted  no  papal  legate  into 
England  without  an  oath  not  to  interfere  with  any 
royal  prerogative.  Though  he  repented  the  death  of 
Becket,  he  forced  the  monks  of  Canterbury  to  elect 
a  successor  of  his  own  nomination. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  progress  of  Henry  II. 's 
reign  was  marked  by  the  Assizes  of  Clarendon  (i  i66), 
which  gave  to  England  the  beginning  of  trial  by  jury. 
A  grand  jury  of  twelve  men  was  to  hear  all  accusa- 
tions, and  only  on  sufficient  evidence  allow  further 
procedure,  although  the  final  trial  of  a  case  was,  until 
12 16,  allowed  to  proceed  according  to  the  laws  of 
Ordeal  and  Combat.  Circuit  judges  were  also  ap- 
pointed, subject  only  to  the  king  and  his  council  as  a 
court  of  appeal. 

In  1 155  Ireland  was  given  over  to  the  conquest  of 


Richard  Cceur  de  Lion.  201 

Henry  by  Pope  Hadrian  for  one  penny  a  house,  to 
be  paid  into  the  papal  treasury;  for,  said  the  Holy 
Father,  "  all  the  islands  on  which  Christ,  the  Sun  of 
justice,  has  shone  belont(  to  the  see  of  St.  Peter." 
Henry's  victory  over  William  of  Scotland  also  gave 
him  the  ascendency  in  that  kingdom.  Thus  was 
woven  the  substance  of  the  band  which  now  holds 
together  Great  Britain. 

The  reign  of  Henry  H.  was  brought  to  a  close  in 
personal  disaster.  At  Le  Mans  in  France  he  was 
beaten  in  battle  by  his  son  Richard,  who,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  King  Philip  Augustus,  had  raised  an  unfilial 
hand  against  his  father.  Henry  died,  cursing  God 
and  muttering,  "Shame!  shame  on  a  conquered 
king!" 

Richard  I.  (Coeur  de  Lion)  may  be  said  to  have 
been  badly  born  (September  8,  1157).  His  father, 
Henry  H.,  though  astute  in  kingcraft,  was  among 
the  most  disreputable  of  monarchs  in  personal  char- 
acter. St.  Bernard  said  of  Henry,  "  He  comes  of  the 
devil,  and  to  the  devil  he  shall  return."  His  remorse 
for  the  murder  of  Becket,  which  seems  to  have  been 
genuine,  did  not  restrain  him  from  spending  his  later 
years  as  a  notorious  lil^ertine,  polluting  every  inno- 
cent thing  about  him  with  his  lecherous  touch.  Even 
childhood  was  not  safe  from  his  lust.  It  is  typical  of 
the  man  and  the  times  that  Geoffrey,  for  whom  the 
king  secured  the  bishopric  of  Lincoln,  was  his  own 
natural  son  by  Rosamond,  his  concubine. 

Richard's  mother,  Eleanor,  was  perhaps  of  as  un- 
wholesome a  sort  as  his  father.  She  never  blushed 
except  at  the  failure  of  some  intrigue  which  in  our 


202      Europe  after  the  Second  Crusade. 

later  age  is  regarded  as  shameful  to  her  sex.  Her 
first  royal  husband,  Louis  VII.  of  France,  though 
fascinated  by  her  beauty,  could  not  abide  her  infi- 
delities, and  put  her  away.  If  the  chronicle  be  true, 
she  avenged  the  marital  sins  of  Henry  II.  by  slaying 
with  her  own  hand  his  mistress,  Rosamond. 

Richard  thus  inherited  much  of  the  disposition 
which  marred  his  many  nobler  traits.  Guizot's  por- 
trait of  him  is  fair :  "  Beyond  comparison  the  boldest, 
the  most  unreflecting,  the  most  passionate,  the  most 
ruffianly,  the  most  heroic  adventurer  of  the  middle 
ages."  Thefirstsuggestionof  his  title,  "Lion-hearted," 
is  perhaps  in  the  pages  of  Roger  de  Wendover  (died 
1237),  who,  describing  the  ravages  Richard  committed 
in  France,  says  :  "  He  invaded  the  territory  with  more 
than  a  lion's  fury,  carried  off  the  produce,  cut  down 
the  vines,  burned  the  villages,  and  demolished  every- 
thing." His  first  act  upon  coming  to  power  was  to 
release  his  mother,  Eleanor,  from  the  twelve  years' 
imprisonment  she  suffered  at  the  hands  of  her  hus- 
band, Henry  II.  Then  was  remembered,  and  applied 
to  her  and  to  Richard,  a  prediction  of  Merlin,  the 
"Wizard  of  the  North,"  in  the  fifth  century:  "The 
eagle  of  the  broken  treaty  shall  rejoice  in  her  third 
nestling."  Roger  de  Wendover  thus  interpreted  the 
hitherto  enigmatic  words :  "  The  queen  [Eleanor]  is 
meant  by  the  eagle,  because  she  stretches  out  her  two 
wings  over  two  kingdoms,  France  and  England.  She 
was  separated  from  the  king  of  the  French  by  divorce 
on  account  of  consanguinity,  and  from  the  king  of  the 
English  by  suspicion  and  imprisonment;  and  so  she 


Coronation  of  Richai'd  I.  203 

was  on  both  sides  the  eagle  of  a  broken  treaty.  '  She 
shall  rejoice  in  her  third  nestling '  may  be  understood 
in  this  wa}- :  the  queen's  first-born  son,  named  Wil- 
liam, died  when  he  was  a  boy;  Ilenr}-,  her  second 
son,  was  raised  to  the  rank  of  king,  and  paid  the  debt 
of  nature  after  he  had  engaged  in  hostilities  with  his 
father;  and  Richard,  her  third  son,  who  is  denoted 
by  the  '  third  nestling,'  was  a  source  of  joy  to  his 
mother." 

Richard  was  crowned  September  11,  1 189.  Wen- 
dover,  who  may  have  witnessed  it,  describes  the 
coronation  service.  Richard  was  conducted  to  West- 
minster in  solemn  procession,  headed  by  ecclesiastics 
bearing  the  cross,  holy  water,  and  censers  ;  four  barons 
carried  candlesticks  with  wax  candles,  two  earls  hold- 
ing aloft  two  sceptres,  one  surmounted  with  a  golden 
cross,  the  other  with  a  dove ;  three  earls  followed, 
carrying  three  swords  with  golden  sheaths ;  six  earls 
and  barons  carried  a  checker,  over  which  were  placed 
the  royal  arms  and  robes,  while  a  seventh  held  aloft 
a  golden  crown.  Richard  swore  upon  the  Gospels 
his  kingly  devotion,  pledging  to  observe  peace,  honor, 
and  reverence  towards  God  and  the  holy  church,  and 
to  exercise  true  justice  to  all  his  people.  "  After  this 
they  stripped  him  of  all  his  clothes  except  his  breeches 
and  shirt,  which  had  been  ripped  apart  over  his  shoul- 
ders to  receive  the  unction.  He  was  then  shod  with 
sandals  interwoven  with  gold  thread,  and  Baldwin, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  anointed  him  king  in  three 
places,  namely,  on  his  head,  his  shoulders,  and  hi.*^ 
right  arm,  using  prayers  composed  for  the  occasion. 


204      Europe  after  the  Second  Crusade. 


Then  a  consecrated  linen  cloth  was  placed  on  his  head, 
over  which  was  put  a  hat,  and  when  they  had  again 
clothed  him  in  his  royal  robes,  with  the  tunic  and  gown, 
the  archbishop  gave  into  his  hands  a  sword  where- 
with to  crush  all  the  enemies  of  the  church.  .  .  .  Then 
they  placed  the  crown  upon  his  head,  with  the  sceptre 
in  his  right  hand  and  the  royal  wand  in  his  left."  Pre- 
ceded by  candles  and  cross,  he  went  to  the  celebration 
of  mass ;  thence  "  to  the  dinner-table,  and  feasted 
splendidly,  so  that  the  wine  flowed  along  the  pave- 
ment and  walls  of  the  palace." 

A  very  different  scene,  though  not  less  character- 
istic of  the  age,  took  place  beyond  the  palace.  Rich- 
ard had  issued  an  edict  forbidding  any  Jew  to  appear 
at  his  coronation.  Some  of  the  wealthiest  Hebrews, 
presuming  upon  the  splendid  gifts  they  brought,  ap- 
proached the  dining-hall.  The  populace,  willingly 
interpreting  the  king's  mandate  as  a  license  for  per- 
secution, set  upon  the  Jews,  not  only  at  the  palace 
gate,  but  throughout  the  city.  They  murdered  them 
without  stint  and  looted  their  houses.  The  king, 
essaying  an  investigation,  found  that  the  chief  dig- 
.  nitaries  and  citizens  were  leaders  of  the  mob,  and 
stayed  further  inquiry.  Other  cities  emulated  the 
cruelty  and  greed  of  the  Londoners.  At  York  five 
hundred  Jews,  who  had  fled  for  safety  to  the  castle, 
unable  to  defend  themselves,  slaughtered  their  own 
wives  and  children  to  save  them  from  worse  fate, 
threw  the  dead  bodies  to  the  Christians  without  the 
walls,  and  then  set  fire  to  their  refuge,  perishing  in 
the  flames.  The  people  to  whom  the  Jews  had  loaned 
money,  the  bonds  of  which  were  kept  in  the  cathe- 


Richard's  Cruelty.  205 


dral,  seized  these  evidences  of  debt  and  burned  them 
in  pious  offering  before  the  altar. 

The  chief  interest  of  Richard,  even  surpassing  the 
care  of  his  throne,  was  to  fulfil  the  vow  he  had  taken 
two  years  before  (1  187)  to  join  a  new  crusade  against 
the  Infidels  in  Palestine. 


THE   THIRD    CRUSADE. 


CHAPTER  XXVIIL 

WILLIAM    OF    TYRE — BARBAROSSA. 


ITH  the  news  of  the  fall  of  Jerusalem 
came  William,  Archbishop  of  Tyre  (the 
chief  chronicler  for  this  time),  to  stir  up 
Europe  to  avenge  the  great  disaster. 
This  man  possessed  powers  of  speech 
equal  to  those  of  his  pen.  He  appeared  before  an 
assembly  near  Gisors,  where  were  gathered  the  brav- 
est knights  of  England  and  France  under  their  respec- 
tive kings,  Henry  H.  and  Philip  Augustus.  These 
monarchs  had  laid  aside  the  arms  they  were  bearing 
against  each  other,  that  they  might  hear  the  appeal  to 
holier  warfare.  The  presence  of  such  royalty  did  not 
restrain  the  fiery  and  indignant  eloquence  of  Wil- 
liam of  Tyre.  He  cried,  "  To  meet  you  here  I  have 
traversed  fields  of  carnage.  But  whose  blood  have 
you  been  shedding?  Why  are  you  armed  with  these 
swords?  You  are  fighting  here  for  the  banks  of  a 
river,  for  the  limit  of  a  province,  for  transient  renown, 

206 


Call  to  Crusade.  207 

while  Infidels  trample  the  banks  of  Siloam.  Does 
your  Europe  no  longer  produce  warriors  like  Godfrey 
and  Tancred?"  Even  the  blood  of  Henry  II.,  poi- 
soned as  it  was  with  many  sins,  felt  the  ardor  of  the 
appeal.  He  embraced  his  foe,  Philip  Augustus,  with 
tears,  while  they  together  put  on  the  badge  of  the 
cross.  Princes  and  nobles  followed  the  royal  example, 
foremost  among  them  Richard,  then  Duke  of  Guienne. 
Upon  those  who  did  not  enlist  was  imposed  a  tax  of 
one  tenth  of  the  value  of  their  property,  to  be  an- 
nually continued  in  a  tenth  of  their  incomes.  This, 
in  attestation  of  the  terror  inspired  by  the  arms  of  the 
Saracen,  was  called  "  Saladin's  tithe."  The  appeals 
of  William  of  Tyre  were  supported  by  the  pastoral 
letters  of  Pope  Gregory  VIII.,  which  promised  to  all 
who  should  "  undertake  the  labor  of  this  expedi- 
tion .  .  .  plenary  indulgence  for  their  offences  and 
eternal  life ;  .  .  .  and  no  person  is  to  make  any 
claim  against  the  property  of  which,  on  assuming  the 
cross,  they  were  in  quiet  possession ;  .  .  .  they  are 
not  to  pay  interest  to  any  person  if  they  have  so 
bound  themselves."  The  Pope  further  ordered  a 
Lenten  fast  on  every  Wednesday,  Friday,  and  Satur- 
day, to  appease  the  wrath  of  Heaven  for  sins,  adding 
that  the  papal  household  would  also  abstain  from 
flesh  on  Mondays. 

The  entire  ritual  of  worship  became  infected  with 
militarism  and  fear  of  the  common  enemy  beyond  the 
sea.  In  1 188  the  Pope  ordained  that  prayer  against 
the  Saracens  should  be  offered  everywhere  daily.  In 
the  Church  of  St.  Paul  a  recognition  of  the  distress- 
ful condition  was  introduced  into  the  liturgy.      On 


2o8  The  TJiii'd  Crusade. 

Sundays  there  was  read  the  psalm  beginning,  "  Why- 
do  the  heathen  rage?  "  On  Mondays,  "  Save  us,  O 
God,  by  Thy  name."  On  Tuesdays,  "O  God,  why 
hast  Thou  forsaken  us  ?  "  On  Wednesdays,  "  O  God, 
why  hast  Thou  cast  us  off  forever?  "  On  Thursdays, 
"  O  God,  the  heathen  are  come  into  Thine  inheri- 
tance." On  Fridays,  "  God  standeth  in  the  congrega- 
tion of  the  mighty."  On  Saturdays,  "  O  Lord  God, 
to  whom  vengeance  belongeth,  show  Thyself." 

The  peace  between  Henry  II.  and  PhiHp  Augustus 
made  under  the  crusader  enthusiasm,  like  other  sud- 
den excitements  of  religious  emotion,  did  not  long 
continue.  A  behever  in  the  doctrine  of  the  persever- 
ance of  the  saints  would  hardly  expect  to  find  its 
proof  in  the  house  of  Anjou,  save  by  its  exceptions. 
The  recklessness  of  Richard  again  embroiled  his  father 
and  the  French  king  in  war.  An  attempt  to  restore 
the  truce  on  the  same  "  .sacred  field  "  of  Gisors  where  it 
had  been  solemnly  enacted  failed,  and  Philip  Augus- 
tus cut  down  the  elm-tree  under  which  they  had 
sworn  it,  that  nature  might  not  taunt  them  with  their 
perjury.  Saladin's  tithe  was  first  devoted  not  against 
the  Infidels,  but  to  the  infidehty  of  Christians  in  war- 
ring with  one  another,  and  was  ominous  of  much  of 
the  subsequent  use  of  that  treasure.  Rome  excom- 
municated Richard,  who  drew  his  sword  upon  the 
papal  legate  that  announced  to  him  the  decree. 
Philip  as  quickly  repelled  the  interference  of  the 
spiritual  power  with  what  he  deemed  the  more  sacred 
right  of  conducting  his  own  quarrels.  It  required  the 
opportune  intervention  of  a  thunder-storm  to  shake 
the  worldly  purpose  of  Henry  II.,  who,  in  genuine 


Frederick  Barbarossa.  209 


terror  at  the  voice  of  heaven,  at  length  agreed  to 

peace. 

In  the  meanwhile  William  of  Tyre  had  electrified 
Germany  with  his  appeals.  The  old  emperor,  Fred- 
erick I.,  took  the  cross,  together  with  many  of  his 
chief  nobles,  including  his  son,  Frederick.  Duke  of 

Swabia. 

Frederick    I.,    called    Barbarossa    by    his    Italian 
enemies  because   of    his   red    beard,  was   the   most 
astute  statesman,  the  most  experienced  general,  and 
the  most  powerful  of  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe 
during  the  twelfth  century.      He  had  been  thirty- 
seven  years  on  the  throne  of  Germany.    Though  not 
altogether  successful  in  his  strifes  with  the  popes,  he 
had  been  able  to  consolidate  his  empire  and  extend 
its  prestige.     Now,  at  sixty-seven  years  of  age,  the 
peace  of  his  dominion  offered  him  the  most  envied 
imperial  honors  and  the  quiet  ending  of  his  days ;  but 
his  heroic  soul  forgot  the  fatigue  of  age ;  he  spurned 
the  enjoyments  of  his  palace  when  he  heard  the  call 
for  new  adventures.      He  was  the  first  en  route  for 
Palestine ;  indeed,  had  completed  his  ill-fated  expe- 
dition before  the  younger  princes  of  the  West  were 

afield. 

The  array  of  Frederick  reflected  the  dignity  of 
its  commander.  It  was  under  careful,  even  strin- 
gent discipline  ;  camp  followers  were  unwelcome  ;  no 
women  were  allowed  in  the  expedition.  This  was  a 
grievance  to  many  of  the  fair  sex,  whose  love  would 
have  led  them  to  accompany  their  husbands,  or  whose 
adventurous  instinct  prompted  them  to  put  on  armor ; 
but  the  order  rid  the  army  of  the  throng  of  immoral 


2IO  The  Thii'd  Crusade. 

creatures  who  were  accustomed  to  attach  themselves 
to  the  crusading  masses.  The  usual  crowd  of  paupers 
who  became  soldiers  only  to  better  their  condition, 
and  bands  of  pilgrims  who  sought  safe  convoy  to  the 
sacred  shrines,  were  ordered  out  of  the  ranks,  only 
those  being  allowed  to  start  who  showed  possession 
of  sufficient  money  to  maintain  themselves  for  two 
years. 

In  true  chivalric  spirit,  the  veteran  warrior  of  the 
West  sent  to  Saladin  his  royal  challenge  before  pro- 
ceeding to  battle.  His  letter  was  true  to  the  times 
also  in  that  it  showed  the  customary  bravado  of  the 
knight,  entering  the  lists  with  self-laudation,  and 
hurling  scorn  at  the  visor  of  his  antagonist.  "  We, 
Frederick,  by  the  grace  of  God,  Emperor  of  the 
Romans,  ever  August,  the  Magnificent  Triumpher 
over  the  enemies  of  the  empire,  to  the  Illustrious 
Saladin,  Governor  of  the  Saracens.  .  .  .  Thou  hast 
profaned  the  Holy  Land,  over  which  we,  by  the 
authority  of  the  eternal  King,  bear  rule.  ,  .  .  God 
willing,  you  shall  learn  by  experience  the  might  of 
our  victorious  eagles."  Then  Frederick  lists  the 
nations  in  his  following:  "The  towering  Bavarian, 
the  cunning  Swabian,  the  cautious  Franconian,  Sax- 
ony that  sports  with  the  sword,  the  active  Braban- 
tine,  the  Lorrainer,  unused  to  peace,  the  fiery  Bur- 
gundian,  the  nimble  mountaineer  of  the  Alps,  the 
Friesian,  with  his  javelin  and  thong,  the  Bohemian, 
ever  ready  to  brave  death,  Polonia,  fiercer  than  her 
own  fierce  beasts,"  etc.  "  And,  lastly,  also,  you  shall 
be  taught  how  our  own  right  hand,  which  you  suppose 
to  be  enfeebled  by  old  age,  can  still  wield  the  sword." 


Bombast  of  Champions.  2 1 1 


Saladin.  in  turn,  outdid  his  challenger  in  courtesy 
if  not  in  bravado.     "  To  the  Great  King,  h.s  sincere 
friend,  the  Illustrious  Frederick,  ...   in  the  name  of 
God  the  merciful.    .    .    •  You  enumerate  those  who 
are  leagued  with  you,  but  if  we  wished  to  enumerate 
those  with  us.  the  list  could  not  be  reduced  to  wnt- 
incT      With  us  are  the  Bedouins,  alone  sufficient  to 
cope  with  you ;  the  Turkomans,  unaided  able  to  de- 
stroy you  ;  our  peasants,  able  to  despoil  and  extermi- 
nate you  ;  the  warlike  Soldarii,  by  whom  we  have  al- 
ready beaten  you.     These  and  all  the  kings  o    Islam 
are  with  me  ;  Babylon,  with  its  dependencies,  the  land 
of  Damascus,  and  Jerusalem  on  the  sea-coast        .   • 
and  the  land  of  Sudia.  with  its  provinces.     If  you 
wish  for  war,  we  will  meet  you  in  the  power  of  the 
Lord;  but  if  you  wish  for  peace,  we  will  restore  to 
you  the  holy  cross,  and  liberate  all  Christian  captives, 
and  permit  pilgrims  to  come  freely  and  do  them  good. 
And  may  Allah  give  us  counsel!"     A  rumor  was 
current,  based,  doubtless,  upon  the  clemency  of  Sal- 
adin to  the  Christians,  that  he  was  himself  contem- 
plating conversion  to  the  faith  of  Europe.    His  letter 
to  Frederick  was  its  sufficient  refutation,  even  with- 
out   its    closing    invocation.    "May    God    save    our 
Prophet,   Mohammed!"     He   emulates  the   conceit 
of  his  antagonist  by  signing  himself,  possibly  with  a 
touch  of  sarcasm.  "  Saladin.  Illustrious  Lord  Victori- 
ous King,  Adorner  of  the  standard  of  truth.  Corrector 

of  the  world,"  etc. 

This  seeming  bombast  was  not  peculiar  to  .hese 
potentates.  The  Greek  emperor.  Isaac  Angelus 
styled  himself  "The  Most  Sublime.  Most  Powerful 


2 1 2  The  Third  Crusade. 

Emperor,  the  Angel  of  the  whole  earth."  Isaac, 
however,  possessed  no  personal  qualities  worthy  of 
commendation.  He  inherited,  together  with  the 
conceit,  the  cowardice  and  treachery  of  the  whole 
line  of  Greek  monarchs.  He  wrote  to  Frederick, 
promising  aid,  and  at  the  same  time  made  alliance 
with  Saladin.  Nicetas,  the  Greek  historian  of  this 
period,  admits  against  his  nation  that  Isaac  broke  the 
treaties,  impeded  the  roads,  and  diverted  provisions 
from  his  German  allies.  At  Adrianople  he  laid  am- 
bush for  their  scouts.  The  veteran  Frederick,  in- 
censed at  this  treatment,  made  a  bloody  retaliation 
upon  a  detachment  of  Greeks.  This  brought  Isaac 
to  terms.  His  friendship  was  measured  by  a  flotilla 
of  fifteen  hundred  ships  and  twenty-six  galleys,  which 
he  prepared  for  the  speedy  transportation  of  the 
Germans  beyond  the  Marmora  and  out  of  menacing 
distance  of  his  capital. 

Kilidge-Arslan  had  sent  fifty  Moslem  knights  to 
meet  Frederick  on  the  way,  and  to  pledge  his  friend- 
ship, but  when  the  army  reached  Iconium  it  was  dis- 
covered that  this  had  been  only  a  device  to  delay  the 
emperor.  Frederick  taught  the  Moslems  that  he  was  in 
no  mood  to  be  trifled  with,  by  suddenly  assaulting  and 
capturing  the  city.  Pressing  onward,  the  Germans 
had  daily  to  meet  the  guerilla  attacks  of  the  Infidels. 
Their  provisions  were  destroyed  as  fast  as  gathered. 
Water  was  scarce,  only  the  stagnant  pools  in  fever- 
impregnated  marshes  affording  palliation  to  thirst. 
The  soldiers  at  times  killed  their  horses  and  drank 
their  blood.  Yet  the  discipline  was  strictly  main- 
tained.    No  crime  went  unpunished.     It  was  evident 


Death  of  Frederick  Barbarossa.        213 

that  a  stronger  hand  was  guiding  the  crusaders  than 
had  before  been  felt.  The  Armenian  patriarch  wrote 
to  his  friend  Saladin,  warning  him  of  the  extraordi- 
nary type  of  man  with  whom  he  had  to  deal.  Chris- 
tian and  Turk  awaited  the  issue  of  the  campaign  with 
respective  hope  and  solicitude. 

In  spite  of  all  obstacles,  the  Germans  made  a  tri- 
umphant march  almost  to  the  borders  of  Syria.  The 
pure  water  of  the  river  Selef,  which  flows  by  the  walls 
of  Seleucia,  tempted  the  conqueror  to  bathe.  Seized 
with  cramps,  he  was  carried  away  by  the  hurrying 
current.  At  length  he  was  dragged  from  the  water, 
but  was  in  dying  condition.  Tradition  says  that  on 
a  rock  near  this  spot  was  carved  this  prediction : 
"  Hie  hominum  maximus  peribit."  If  the  omen  be 
fabulous,  the  description  is  correct,  for  Frederick  Bar- 
barossa remains  in  history  as  one  of  the  "  greatest  of 
men."  William  of  Tyre,  in  his  eulogy,  translates  his 
spirit  to  heaven,  while  the  Arabian  historian,  Omad, 
tells  us  with  equal  confidence  that  the  angel  of  death 
carried  his  soul  to  hell. 

The  German  host,  now  led  by  the  feebler  hand  of 
his  son,  Frederick  of  Swabia,  succeeded  in  reaching 
Antioch  with  less  than  seven  hundred  horse  and  five 
thousand  foot,  a  retinue  scarcely  sufficient  to  do  honor 
to  the  remains  of  the  grand  old  hero,  which  they 
there  buried  in  the  Church  of  St.  Peter. 

In  June,  1 190,  the  English  and  French  made  prep- 
aration to  follow  their  unfortunate  forerunner.  It 
was  not,  however,  until  a  year  later  that  they  arrived 
in  Palestine. 

The  movements  of  Saladin,  in  the  meanwhile,  en- 


2 1 4  The  Third  Crusade. 


grossed  the  fears  of  the  Christian  world.  After  cap- 
turing Jerusalem  he  attacked  Tyre.  The  bravery  of 
the  defence  was  supplemented  by  the  timely  arrival 
of  Conrad,  whose  father,  the  Marquis  of  Montferrat, 
Saladin  held  prisoner.  Conrad  had  already  made  his 
name  famous  for  valor.  For  his  assistance  of  the 
Greek  emperor  against  seditions  in  Constantinople  he 
had  won  the  title  of  Caesar  and  the  hand  of  the  em- 
peror's sister.  Saladin  endeavored  to  divert  him  by 
threatening  to  kill  his  father  unless  he  relinquished 
the  defence  of  Tyre.  Conrad's  reply  was  noteworthy  : 
"  The  life  of  my  father  is  less  dear  to  me  and  to  him 
than  the  cause  we  both  serve."  Saladin  was  forced 
to  give  up  the  siege.  He  turned  against  TripoH. 
Aided  by  Admiral  Margarit,  whom  the  King  of  Sicily 
had  sent  with  a  fleet  and  who  had  won  the  titles  of 
"King  of  the  Sea"  and  the  "New  Neptune,"  the 
Tripolitans  successfully  resisted.  Saladin  then  as- 
sailed Carac,  which  was  forced  to  yield  to  the  Mos- 
lem chief.  He  granted  its  defenders  their  liberty,  and 
restored  to  them  their  wives  and  children,  whom,  in 
an  hour  of  deathly  fear,  they  had  sold  as  slaves  to 
Saladin  rather  than  see  them  the  victims  of  such  rav- 
ages as  usually  followed  the  capture  by  the  common 
soldiery.  King  Guy  of  Jerusalem  had  been  released 
from  imprisonment  by  Saladin  on  condition  that  he 
would  leave  Palestine  and  return  to  Europe.  Guy 
paid  no  respect  to  his  oath,  but,  gathering  the  loyal 
remnant  of  his  kingdom,  laid  siege  to  Ptolemais  (Acre), 
there  inaugurating  a  contest  which,  for  its  duration  and 
the  fame  of  the  great  chieftains  engaged  in  it,  was  the 
most  noted  in  the  sad  annals  of  the  third  crusade. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

SIEGE   OF   ACRE. 

i^lIE  plain  of  Acre  is  surrounded  by  great 
natural  defences.     On  tlie  north  is  Mount 
Saron,  the  narrow  pathway  over  which  is 
called   the   "Ladder  of  Tyre";    on  the 
^  south  rises  the  bulwark  of  Mount  Carmel, 

touching  the  sea;  on  the  east  he  the  mountains  of 
Gahlee;  on  the  west  the  plain  is  washed  by  the 
Mediterranean.  Within  this  seemingly  impregnable 
district  lay  the  strongly  fortified  city  of  Acre.  Its 
port  rivalled  those  of  Tyre,  Sidon.  and  Jaffa.  High 
walls,  guarded  by  deep  moats,  bent  in  shape  of  a 
horseshoe  from  the  crags  on  the  north  to  a  fortress 
on  tlie  south,  which  rose  from  a  rock  m  the  waves. 
With  the  water  front  these  enclosed  the  place. 

Into  the  plain  beyond  the  wall  Guy  collected  nme 
thousand  men.  The  rapid  arrivals  from  Europe  aug- 
mented this  force  to  eighty  thousand,  even  before 
the  kings  of  England  and  France  had  started  from 
home.  The  Infidels  already  occupied  the  city,  and 
when  Saladin  seized  the  mountains  about,  the  be- 
siegers were  themselves  besieged.  By  a  sudden  dash 
Saladin  penetrated  their  hosts,  entered  Acre,  and 

215 


2 1 6  The  Third  Crusade. 


reconnoitred  the  Christian  armies  from  the  towers. 
Conrad  hastened  from  Tyre  ;  two  fleets  brought  new 
bands  of  German  and  Danish  crusaders.  The  Chris- 
tians gave  battle,  and  drove  the  Moslems  from  the 
field  with  such  slaughter  that  Saladin  was  left  almost 
alone  amid  the  wreck  of  his  forces.  But  he  quickly- 
recuperated  his  strength,  and  a  few  days  later  returned 
the  assault.  No  fury  of  fight  could  blind  the  eyes 
of  this  commander.  Ten  times  he  cut  through  the 
Christian  lines,  leading  in  person  his  swift  riders.  By 
night  the  crusaders  were  driven  back  and  huddled 
impotently  in  their  camps.  The  morrow  revealed  the 
plain  strewn  with  the  debris  of  both  armies. 

Though  Saladin  had  fully  avenged  his  first  dis- 
comfiture, he  had  learned  more  of  the  sharpness  of 
the  Christians'  swords,  and  was  too  wise  to  risk  an- 
other immediate  engagement.  He  therefore  with- 
drew to  his  fastnesses  in  the  rear  of  the  Christian  en- 
campment. During  the  entire  winter  (i  189-90)  the 
Christians  were  unmolested,  and  prosecuted  the  siege 
unremittingly.  More  than  once  the  city  barely  es- 
caped becoming  the  prize  of  the  Christians'  daring  or 
stratagem. 

In  the  spring  (i  190)  Saladin  returned.  Every  at- 
tack made  upon  Acre  by  the  crusaders  was  foiled  by 
a  counter-attack  by  the  Moslems  upon  their  rear. 
Egypt  sent  ships  to  succor  the  city,  and  Europe  sent 
ships  to  succor  its  soldiers.  Masts  bearing  the  cross 
and  those  flying  the  pennant  of  its  adversaries  seemed 
at  times  to  be  mingled  in  confusion  over  the  bay.  The 
Moslem  and  Christian  armies  often  manned  their  forti- 
fications and  stood  as  spectators  of  naval  duels,  where 


The  Siege  of  Acre.  217 

they  were  impotent  to  help  their  coreligionists.  The 
enthusiasm  of  the  observers,  not  having  sufficient  ex- 
pression in  shouts  and  cheers,  often  found  vent  in 
supplementary  fights  in  the  field.  In  the  battles 
which  raged  on  land  the  Christians  were  ordinarily 
victors  during  the  morning,  the  Saracens  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  day.  This  was  due,  doubtless,  to  the 
fact  that  the  discipline  of  Saladin's  men  was  superior, 
and  that  the  self-command  of  their  great  general 
patiently  waited  for  the  first  ardor  of  the  crusaders 
to  spend  itself,  or  for  their  cupidity  to  divert  their  at- 
tention from  the  foe  to  the  plunder  which  they  had 
already  taken. 

Saladin's  forces  had  been  weakened  at  the  time  by 
the  ravages  of  Frederick  Barbarossa  in  Asia  Minor, 
which  we  have  described,  and  which  drew  off  many 
of  the  Moslem  leaders  to  defend  their  own  posses- 
sions in  that  quarter.    The  Christians  took  advantage 
of  this  to  give  the  foe  what  they  hoped  to  be  a  deci- 
sive engagement.     Their  impetuosity  could  not  be 
resisted  ;  they  broke  through  even  to  the  tent  of  Sala- 
din.    As  usual,  they  paused  for  the  prey,  and  received 
the   usual  punishment  for  their  greed.     Off  guard, 
they  were  massacred  by  thousands,  even  amid  the 
camps  they  were  looting.     An  Arabian  writer  says: 
"The  Christians  fell  under  the  swords  of  the  con- 
querors as  the  wicked  will  fall  into  the  abode  of  fire 
at  the  last  day.     Nine   ranks  of  dead  covered  the 
ground,  and  each  rank  was  of  a  thousand  warriors." 
The  besieged  in  Acre  sallied  forth  and  gave  the 
Christians  a  double  defeat.     Then  came  the  news  of 
Frederick  Barbarossa's  death.     In  the  deep  depres- 


2i8  The  Third  Crusade. 

sion  wrought  by  these  tidings,  a  treaty  of  peace  with 
Saladin  would  doubtless  have  been  at  once  concluded, 
had  not  the  Christians'  spirit  been  raised  by  the 
timely  arrival  of  European  fleets.  Frederick  of 
Swabia's  appearance  with  the  remnant  of  his  father's 
army  was  signalled  by  new  adventures,  only  to  be 
met  with  new  failures.  The  Christians,  having  no 
support  from  the  surrounding  country,  were  reduced 
almost  to  starvation,  feeding  upon  horses  and  making 
soup  of  their  harness.  The  plain,  inundated  by  the 
overflowing  river,  bred  epidemic,  which  carried  away 
multitudes,  three  or  four  hundred  being  buried  daily, 
Frederick  of  Swabia,  the  heir  of  the  German  throne, 
sickened  and  passed  away,  and  many  of  his  men  re- 
turned to  the  West. 

Queen  Sibylla  of  Jerusalem  also  died  at  this  junc- 
ture, and  the  Christians  were  divided  into  the  hostile 
camps  of  those  who  were  seeking  to  possess  them- 
selves of  the  shadows  of  the  kingship.  Humphrey 
had  married  Sibylla's  sister,  and  put  forth  his  claim 
to  the  throne.  Conrad  gained  the  favor  of  the 
bishop,  who  forcibly  dissolved  Humphrey's  marriage 
and  gave  his  wife  to  Conrad,  though  that  worthy  had 
already  a  spouse,  the  sister  of  the  Greek  emperor. 
King  Guy,  however,  maintained  his  own  rights  to 
the  empty  sceptre.  A  civil  war,  which  would  surely 
have  brought  the  Christian  cause  to  ruin,  was  diverted 
only  by  the  expected  arrival  of  the  kings  of  England 
and  France,  to  whom  it  was  agreed  that  the  dispute 
should  be  referred. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE    COMING  OF   PHILIP  AUGUSTUS  AND   RICHARD 
— FALL   OF   ACRE. 

ICHARD  I.  was  crowned  King  of  Eng- 
land in  September,  1189.  In  October 
there  arrived  in  England  a  messenger 
from  Philip  of  France,  reminding  the  king 
of  their  mutual  oaths  to  make  the  crusade. 
The  adventurous  spirit  of  Richard  did  not  need  this 
appeal.  He  drained  the  resources  of  his  realm  in 
gathering  means.  All  the  money  left  him  by  his 
father,  Henry  H.,  was  first  appropriated.  He  then 
sold  the  manors  and  prospective  income  of  the  crown. 
Next  the  chief  offices  of  honor  and  responsibility 
went  to  the  highest  bidder  who  had  ready  cash. 
Thus  Hugh  de  Puzas,  Bishop  of  Durham,  became 
chief  justice  of  England  for  a  thousand  marks.  Hav- 
ing abundant  soldiery  at  his  command,  Richard  then 
allowed  any  one  to  purchase  the  privilege  of  staying 
at  home ;  he  even  declared  that  he  would  sell  the 
City  of  London  for  a  reasonable  price.  The  vassal- 
age of  Scotland  went  for  a  thousand  marks,  to- 
gether with  the  fortresses  of  Roxburgh  and  Berwick. 
When   he  had  nothing   more   to  sell   he  forced   his 

219 


2  20  The  Third  Crusade. 

richer  subjects  to  make  him  loans,  which  they  knew 
he  never  would  repay.  A  plain-spoken  preacher  ad- 
vised him,  before  he  set  out  on  an  expedition  in  the 
name  of  religion,  to  dispose  of  some  of  his  notorious 
vices,  naming  especially  his  pride,  avarice,  and  volup- 
tuousness. Richard  replied,  "  You  counsel  well,  and 
I  hereby  dispose  of  the  first  to  the  Templars,  of  the 
second  to  the  Benedictine  monks,  and  of  the  third  to 
my  prelates." 

Consigning  the  administration  of  England  to  Hugh, 
Bishop  of  Durham,  and  an  unsavory  Frenchman, 
Longchamp,  Bishop  of  Ely,  he  left  England,  accom- 
panied by  a  turbulent  crowd  of  adventurers.  He 
made  his  rendezvous  with  the  French  king  at  Veze- 
lay  (June,  1190).  Here  the  monarchs  swore  frater- 
nity and  to  sacredly  respect  each  other's  domains 
during  the  crusade.  They  invoked  upon  themselves 
the  curses  of  Heaven  and  the  church  if  they  should 
prove  unfaithful.  The  joint  armies  numbered  a  hun- 
dred thousand  men.  Warned  by  the  reverses  ex- 
perienced by  their  predecessors  in  crusading  over- 
land, they  chose  the  sea  route  to  Palestine. 

Philip  sailed  from  Genoa  for  Sicily.  He  entered 
the  port  of  Messina,  September  16,  11 90.  Richard 
sailed  from  Marseilles,  hugging  the  Italian  coast,  ac- 
cording to  the  sea  travel  of  the  day,  visiting  port 
towns  en  route,  and  paying  worship  at  the  shrines  of 
the  various  local  saints.  He  reached  Messina  a  few 
days  later  than  Philip  (September  23d). 

The  main  English  fleet,  leaving  England  and  Nor- 
mandy, had  gone  southward  along  the  coast  of  France 
and  Spain.     The  lands  they  passed  in  sight  of  were 


Sea  Voyage  of  the  English.  2  2 1 

strange  to  the  navigators,  so  little  was  known  of  the 
geography  of  even  the  countries  of  Europe.  At  Lis- 
bon they  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  help  the 
Portuguese  Christians  in  a  war  with  the  Saracens, 
nor  of  indulging  a  less  laudable  sort  of  prowess, 
which  Hovenden  describes :  "  Disembarking  from 
their  ships,  they  made  their  way  into  the  city,  and  as 
tiiey  went  through  streets  and  lanes  talked  to  the 
people,  giving  themselves  airs  and  committing  vio- 
lence upon  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  citizens; 
they  drove  away  pagans  and  Jews,  plundered  their 
property,  and  burned  their  houses.  They  then 
stripped  their  vineyards,  leaving  them  not  so  much 
as  a  grape."  This  faithful  chronicler  also  narrates 
that  during  a  storm  at  sea  St.  Thomas  a  Becket 
appeared  to  them  and  calmed  the  waves.  "  They 
passed  the  city  of  Silva  ( ?),  which  was  the  most  re- 
mote of  all  the  cities  of  Christendom."  At  Mar- 
seilles they  missed  King  Richard,  who  already  had 
departed ;  but  they  were  compensated  for  their 
disappointment  in  being  enabled  to  worship  the 
identical  "  rods  with  which  our  Lord  was  scourged, 
the  jaw-bone  of  Lazarus,  and  one  of  the  ribs  of 
Lawrence."  Approaching  Sicily,  they  saw  the  mar- 
vellous fish  of  St.  Agatha,  the  story  of  which  they 
believed  :  how  that  the  heat  of  the  volcano  of  Mount 
Gebel  (Stromboli?)  once  threatened  the  town  of  Ca- 
tana;  but  the  people  took  the  veil  of  St.  Agatha  from 
her  tomb,  "carried  it  before  them,  facing  the  fire,  on 
which  the  flames  returned  to  the  sea  and,  parching 
it,  dried  it  up  for  nearly  a  mile,  and  scorched  the 
fish,  many  of  which  were  half  burned ;  and  there  are 


222  The  Third  Crusade. 

to  this  day  many  fish  there  of  the  same  kind."  But 
the  marvels  of  that  voyage  are  too  many  for  our 
pages,  if  not  for  the  creduHty  of  the  reader. 

Richard  himself  remained  six  months  in  Marseilles, 
a  delay  that  nearly  caused  the  destruction  of  his  en- 
terprise. A  quarrel  was  started  with  Tancred,  ruler 
of  Sicily,  about  certain  rights  of  Richard's  sister  Jo- 
anna, who  was  the  widow  of  Tancred's  predecessor. 
Says  the  chronicler :  "  Quicker  than  priest  could  chant 
matins  did  King  Richard  take  the  city."  Philip  re- 
sented Richard's  audacity  and  forced  him  to  take 
down  his  standard.  Richard  had  once  solicited  and 
gained  from  Philip  the  hand  of  the  French  princess 
Alice ;  but,  his  advantage  now  blowing  from  another 
direction,  he  preferred  Berengaria,  a  princess  of  Na- 
varre. Berengaria,  through  the  connivance  of  Elea- 
nor, was  brought  to  Mess'na.  Only  at  the  entreaty 
of  utmost  piety  and  discretion  could  Philip  be  per- 
suaded to  lay  aside  his  rage  at  this  new  insult.  He 
sailed  at  once  for  the  East. 

Richard  followed  eleven  days  later  (April,  1191), 
taking  with  him  Berengaria  and  Joanna,  ex- Queen 
of  Sicily.  Three  ships  of  the  English  fleet  were 
wrecked  on  Cyprus,  and  their  crews  imprisoned  by 
the  inhabitants.  Isaac,  the  king  of  the  island,  refused 
to  redress  the  wrong.  Richard  administered  swift 
punishment.  Within  three  weeks  he  conquered  the 
entire  country,  and,  binding  its  ruler  in  a  chain  of 
silver,  took  him  along  on  an  involuntary  pilgrimage 
to  Palestine.  Richard  had  celebrated  his  prowess  at 
Cyprus  by  his  nuptials  with  Berengaria.  The  new 
queen  took  with  her  as  companion  the  daughter  of 


Richard  Arrives  in  Palestine.  223 


Isaac,  whose  constant  presence  is  said  to  have  dis- 
turbed the  aheady  uncertain  marital  habits  of  her 
husband. 

The  French  welcomed  the  arrival  of  their  English 
allies  with  great  bonfires,   which  were  designed  to 
proclaim  the  joy  of  the  Christians  and  to  flash  dis- 
may to  the  Moslem  camps.     The  plain  of  Acre  was 
soon  filled  with  the  tents  of  a  host  which  represented 
the  strength  of  combined  Europe.     Peoples  strange 
to  one  another  in  speech,  manners,  and  arms  were 
one  only  in  their  cause.     It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
if,  at  times,  these  races  more  sharply  accentuated  their 
differences  than  their  unity.    The  contention  between 
Guy  and  Conrad  for  the  kingship  of  Jerusalem,  which 
was  referred  to  Philip  and  Richard  for  settlement, 
only  gave  opportunity  for  renewed  hostility  between 
these   monarchs,   Philip    declaring   for  Conrad,   and 
Richard  for  Guy.    The  matter  was  finally  settled  by 
agreement  that  Guy  should  reign  and  that  Conrad 
should  be  his  successor. 

The  jealousy  of  French  and  English  prevented 
mutual  help  in  the  battles  daily  occurring,  wherefore 
it  was  agreed  that  but  one  army  should  fight  at  a 
time  against  the  walls  of  Acre,  while  the  other  should 
guard  against  a  rear  attack  by  Saladin.  Thus  the 
honors  were  easy,  as  the  tasks  assigned  were  equally 
hazardous.  The  courtesies  of  the  camp  were  more 
readily  extended  to  their  enemy  than  to  one  another. 
Saladin,  during  the  sickness  of  both  sovereigns,  sent 
to  them  his  own  physicians,  and  such  luxuries  as  the 
East  provided.  While  they  received  these  from  their 
foe  without  suspicion,  Philip  and  Richard  each  attrib- 


2  24  The  Third  Crusade. 

uted  his  sickness  to  the  poisoning  of  the  other,  and 
each  accused  his  Christian  associate  with  using  Sala- 
din's  favors  with  a  view  to  treasonable  alHance. 

Often  tournaments  were  arranged  between  Moslem 
and  Christian  in  the  sight  of  both  armies.  Knight 
and  emir  entered  the  lists,  abusing  each  other  with 
their  tongues  Hke  twin  Thersiteses,  then  fighting  with 
the  valor  of  Hector  and  Achilles.  Women  did  not 
disdain  rivalry  for  the  palm  in  swordcraft,  and  bands 
of  children  from  either  side  fought  to  the  death  in  the 
presence  of  their  parents.  The  Infidel  played  for  the 
dance  of  the  Christian,  and  the  minstrel  of  Europe 
gave  the  rhythm  to  the  feet  of  the  Saracen.  The 
table  of  Saladin  was  sometimes  graced  by  the  presence 
of  the  foremost  European  knights,  and  in  turn  emirs 
feasted  at  the  board  of  those  whom  they  most  dreaded 
to  meet  on  the  field.  Saladin  so  respected  the  cour- 
tesy and  devotion  of  the  true  Christian  knight  that 
he  willingly  wore  the  decoration  of  Chivalry,  while 
Richard  rode  into  battle  one  of  the  two  splendid 
steeds  which  were  the  gift  of  the  sultan's  brother. 
The  lowest  vices  of  the  East  and  the  West  became  the 
open  indulgence  of  the  camps  of  both.  But  each 
party  maintained  the  utmost  outward  reverence  to 
the  symbols  of  his  own  religion;  Saladin  pausing  in 
the  midst  of  battle  to  read  a  chapter  of  the  Koran, 
and  the  King  of  Jerusalem  advancing  to  fight  with 
the  Gospels  borne  aloft  before  him. 

The  besieged  in  Acre  were  reduced  to  extremities, 
the  Christians  completely  investing  the  city  on  the 
land  side  in  spite  of  the  forays  of  Saladin  from  the 
hills,  and  their  fleets  cutting  off  all  succor  from  the 


Crusaders  Take  Acre.  225 

sea.  At  length,  after  two  years  of  incessant  fighting, 
during  which  nine  great  battles  were  fought,  the 
standard  of  the  cross  was  seen  floating  from  the  ram- 
parts of  the  city  (July  12,  1 191).  The  besieged  had 
capitulated  upon  condition  that  their  lives  should  be 
spared,  and  that  Saladin  should  pay  their  ransom  in 
two  hundred  pieces  of  gold.  In  the  original  proposal 
it  was  agreed  to  surrender  the  wood  of  the  True  Cross, 
the  possession  of  which  by  the  Infidels  was  imagined 
to  be  the  cause  of  all  sorts  of  disasters  to  the  Chris- 
tian world ;  among  the  least  of  which,  if  we  are  to 
believe  a  chronicler  of  the  time,  was  that  all  children 
born  in  Christendom  since  the  capture  of  the  cross  at 
Hattin  had  but  twenty-two  instead  of  thirty-two 
teeth.  Richard  was  not  religious  enough  to  insist 
upon  the  restoration  of  this  precious  symbol. 

Saladin,  after  the  city  had  fallen,  delayed  in  ful- 
filling the  condition  that  the  defenders  of  Acre  had 
put  upon  him  relative  to  their  ransom  money.  Rich- 
ard avenged  this  assumed  breach  of  faith  by  massa- 
cring five  thousand  unarmed  Moslems  before  the  city 
wall.  Philip,  in  disgust  at  this  action,  turned  over 
his  army  to  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  and  returned  to 
France. 

Richard,  thus  left  in  sole  command,  crossed  Mount 
Carmel  and  proceeded  southward,  keeping  close  to 
the  shore  that  he  might  have  timely  assistance  from 
his  fleet.  At  every  stream  and  sand-dune  he  met 
the  omnipresent  Saladin.  The  Christians'  march  was 
under  an  incessant  rain  of  arrows,  which  covered  the 
frequent  dashes  of  the  Moslem  squadrons.  At  the 
banks  of  the  Arsur  (Nahr  Falik)  the  Christians  en- 


2  26  The  Third  Crusade. 

countered  the  entire  army  of  their  contestants  (Sep- 
tember 7,  1 191).  Though  Richard  led  sixty  thou- 
sand, the  Oriental  historian  Omad,  secretary  to  Sal- 
adin,  says  that  the  Mussulmans  surrounded  them  as 
the  eyelashes  surround  the  eye.  The  cry  "Allah! 
Allah!"  was  echoed  by  "  Deus  vult!"  as  the  mighty 
hosts  sprang  upon  each  other.  The  Christian  infantry, 
leading  the  assault,  suddenly  opened  its  ranks ;  the 
cavalry  poured  through  and  made  the  first  attack. 
Richard  followed  with  the  main  body.  Nothing  could 
withstand  the  fury  of  his  onset.  The  Moslems  were 
swept  before  him;  but  they  as  quickly  gathered  in 
his  rear,  compelling  him  to  return  and  fight  over 
again  the  battle  he  had  already  won.  The  plain  was 
too  small  for  the  multitude  to  marshal  in  orderly  ar- 
ray. The  armies  were  intertwined  as  the  many  folds 
of  two  serpents  of  hostile  breed.  It  is  said  that  more 
than  once  Richard  and  Saladin  tested  each  other's 
quahties  by  personal  encounter;  the  only  doubt  cast 
upon  this  story  by  Christian  writers  being  from  the 
fact  that  Saladin  survived,  the  Arabic  chroniclers  re- 
jecting it  on  the  ground  that  Richard  still  Hved. 

At  nightfall  the  Moslems  extricated  themselves 
from  the  melee  and  disappeared  in  the  forests  of 
Saron,  the  Christians  being  wary  enough  not  to  follow 
them.  Had  Richard  pursued  his  advantage  the 
Arabian  historians  admit  that  he  might  have  secured 
Jerusalem ;  but  the  impulsive  temper  of  this  leader 
suffered  from  sudden  reaction.  He  repaired  to  Jaffa 
with  the  women  of  his  household,  and  there  estab- 
lished a  brilliant  and  festive  court.  One  day  while 
hunting  he  was  surrounded  by  a  troop  of  Moslems. 


Fi?icssc  oj  Richa)d  and  Sa/adiii.        227 

When  he  was  on  the  point  of  being  captured  a  French 
knight  cried  out,  "  I  am  the  king;  spare  me."  The 
Moslems,  thus  diverted,  allowed  Richard  to  escape, 
and  brought  the  knight  a  captive  to  Saladin. 

Richard  soon  tired  of  his  rest,  and  even  of  revelry, 
at  JafTa,  and  projected  the  siege  of  Ascalon.  Sala- 
din, made  aware  (^f  that  enterprise,  burned  the  city. 
Richard  set  about  its  rebuilding;  his  orders  were 
disobej'cd.  Many  echoed  the  words  of  Leopold  of 
Austria,  who  declared  that  he  was  a  warrior,  but 
neither  a  carpenter  nor  a  mason. 

The  resentment  of  this  prince  had  been  kindled 
against  the  Englishman  b}-  an  outrage  on  the  part  of 
Richard  in  ordering  the  standard  of  Austria  to  be 
thrown  from  the  walls  of  Acre,  where  Leopold  had 
presumptuously  planted  it  after  the  capture  of  that 
place.  Conrad  of  Montferrat  had  also  taken  umbrage 
at  Richard's  lordly  treatment  of  him,  and  was  de- 
tected in  courting  alliance  with  Saladin  for  the  resti- 
tution of  Acre.  Richard  foiled  him  with  deeper  play. 
He  proposed  to  give  his  sister,  the  ex-Queen  of  Sicily, 
as  wife  to  Malek-Ahdel,  brother  of  Saladin,  that 
there  might  be  erected  at  Jerusalem  a  mongrel  em- 
pire of  Christians  and  Moslems.  Saladin  t03'ed  with 
the  proposition  sufficiently  to  delay  Richard's  attack 
upon  Jerusalem  until  that  city  hail  been  greatly 
strengthened.  Thousands  of  Christian  captives  were 
set  to  work  upon  the  walls  and  in  the  ditches,  under 
threat  of  being  massacred,  as  were  the  Moslems  by 
Richard's  order  at  Acre.  Realizing  that  his  scheme 
of  alliance  with  Saladin  had  failed,  Richard  endea- 
vored to  engage  his  antagonist  in  battle  in  the  open 


2  28  The  Third  Crusade. 

country ;  but  the  astute  Moslem  was  too  discreet  to 
risk  his  cimeters  against  heavy  swords,  except  when 
necessary.  He  had  also  some  less  martial  schemes 
on  foot ;  he  seduced  Conrad  at  least  from  whole- 
hearted loyalty  to  the  cross,  by  promising  to  defend 
him  in  permanent  possession  of  whatever  cities  he 
might  take  from  his  fellow- Christians.  Conrad  was 
soon  assassinated  by  two  Moslems.  Richard  was 
quickly  accused  of  being  accessory  to  this  deed.  The 
suspicion  grew  in  plausibility  when  he  forced  Isa- 
bella, widow  of  Conrad,  to  marry  his  nephew,  the 
Count  of  Champagne,  who  thus,  through  Isabella's 
rights  as  sister  of  Sibylla,  became  titular  King  of 
Jerusalem.  King  Guy  was  compensated  for  the  loss 
of  his  throne  by  the  gift  of  the  government  of  Cyprus, 
where  his  descendants  reigned  for  two  hundred  years, 
until  the  Moslem  wave  had  ingulfed  the  entire  eastern 
Mediterranean. 

Saladin  was  also  thought  to  have  connived  at  the 
murder  of  Conrad.  One  of  the  murderers,  however, 
confessed  to  having  been  the  agent  of  the  Old  Man 
of  the  Mountain,  the  chief  of  the  sect  of  Assassins, 
who  also  avowed  himself  responsible  for  the  deed. 

This  sect,  whose  name  has  given  to  European 
languages  their  word  for  the  most  atrocious  crime,  is 
one  of  the  many  divisions  of  the  Moslem  peoples. 
Their  sheik  regarded  himself  as  the  lineal  successor  of 
Hassan,  and  thus  the  inheritor  of  the  Imam  or  Holy 
Spirit,  whose  possession  is  the  inner  sign  of  the  cali- 
phate. Hassan,  after  various  adventures,  retired  to 
Altamont,  a  strong  castle  in  the  mountains  of  Persia, 
whence  his  title,  and  that  of  his  successors,  of  "  Old 


A  ssassins — Richard  Retreats.         229 

Man  of  the  Mountain."  He  attempted  to  enforce  his 
spiritual  authority  by  inspiring  universal  dread  of  his 
vengeance.  His  successors  and  agents  became  adept 
in  the  use  of  poisons,  the  dagger,  and  all  methods 
of  secretly  disposing  of  human  life.  So  wide  were 
the  ramifications  of  this  brotherhood  that,  not  only 
throughout  the  Moslem  world,  but  in  Christian  Eu- 
rope, sudden  death,  otherwise  unaccountable,  was 
accredited  to  the  Assassins,  whose  dusky  forms  were 
imagined  to  move  unseen  in  the  bedchambers  of 
princes  and  to  stand  behind  thrones.  The  name 
"Assassin"  is  apparently  from  "hashish,"  the  drug 
with  which  the  murderer  stimulated  his  courage  when 
accepting  the  desperate  commission  from  his  chief. 

Richard,  thus  relieved  of  his  rival,  Conrad,  again 
showed  his  superior  powers  of  command.  With 
marvellous  celerity  he  swept  over  the  country,  even 
to  the  southern  extreme  of  Palestine,  where  he  cap- 
tured Darom,  at  the  entrance  to  Egypt.  Saladin  was 
apparently  forced  to  retire  within  the  walls  of  Jeru- 
salem. Richard  pressed  towards  the  sacred  city 
(June,  1 192).  Rumors  of  Saracen  destitution  and 
fright  came  upon  every  wind.  The  crusaders  were 
eager  to  pluck  again  the  prize  of  Jerusalem,  which 
Providence  seemed  to  hang  within  their  reach ;  but 
Richard  was  incredulous  of  the  weakness  of  a  foe  he 
had  always  found  as  strong  as  himself,  and  whom  he 
knew  to  be  his  superior  in  craft.  He  pointed  out  to 
his  followers  that  at  that  very  moment  the  Moslem 
armies,  scattered  everywhere  among  the  Judean 
foot-hills,  actually  surrounded  their  own ;  that  the 
roads  to  the  city  were  in  places  but  narrow  defiles 


230  The  Third  Crusade. 

guarded  by  precipitous  heights,  from  which  a  few 
could  hurl  destruction  upon  many.  To  carry  siege 
apparatus  through  such  a  country,  facing  the  menace 
of  a  Saladin,  was  to  invoke  certain  disaster.  If  re- 
pulse should  come,  what  relief  could  they  find  so  far 
away  from  the  coast?  How  could  they  ever  hope  to 
make  good  a  retreat  to  their  ships  ? 

The  council  of  knights  to  whom  the  matter  was 
referred  agreed  with  their  chief.  Richard,  with  un- 
doubted affliction  of  his  martial  pride,  if  not  of  his 
pious  spirit,  gave  one  longing  look  towards  the  dis- 
tant domes  of  Jerusalem.  He  then  covered  his  face 
with  his  shield  and  turned  away,  declaring  that  he 
was  unwilling  to  gaze  upon  that  which  he  was  unable 
to  conquer. 

The  retreat  from  Jerusalem  destroyed  Richard's 
prestige  as  a  strategist  and  capable  leader  of  great 
enterprises ;  but  nothing  ever  lessened  his  lustre  for 
personal  bravery.  The  lion  may  be  outwitted  by  the 
fox;  and  it  is  no  deep  disgrace  to  Coeur  de  Lion  that 
he  could  not  circumvent  a  Saladin.  Richard  vented 
his  disappointment  and  rage  upon  many  parts  of  the 
Moslem  host.  Like  a  wounded  lion,  he  destroyed 
whatever  came  within  his  reach.  One  day  he  anni- 
hilated a  squadron  of  seven  thousand  Infidels  ;  another 
time  he  captured  as  many  camels  laden  with  provision. 

Saladin  had  outgeneralled  him  at  Jafi"a  and  captured 
that  city,  with  the  exception  of  the  citadel,  which 
promised  surrender  if  succor  did  not  come  within  a 
day.  Richard  in  turn  outplayed  his  rival ;  he  slipped 
from  the  harbor  of  Acre  with  a  few  galleys  and  sur- 
prised the  garrison  at  Jafifa.     Such  was  the  celerity 


Peace  with  Saladin.  231 

of  his  approach  that  the  Moslems  fled  from  the  city 
without  having  time  to  strike  another  blow  in  its 
defence. 

Having  obtained  all  the  glory  that  was  possible 
from  his  Eastern  adventure,  Richard  proposed  peace 
with  Saladin.  His  emirs,  equally  wearied  with  war, 
urged  the  reluctant  Saladin  to  accede  to  the  crusa- 
ders' terms.  These  were  that  the  Christians  should 
possess  all  the  coast,  except  Ascalon,  which  should 
remain  unoccupied,  and  that  Jerusalem  should  be 
free  for  the  feet  of  all  pilgrims.  The  compact  was 
made  in  the  presence  of  the  Koran  and  the  Bible,  the 
silent  witnesses  of  the  oaths  taken  respectively  in  the 
names  of  Allah  and  Jehovah.  It  was  to  be  faithfully 
observed,  according  to  some  chroniclers,  for  the  space 
of  three  years,  three  months,  three  weeks,  three  days, 
and  three  hours — a  suggestion  that  came  from  the 
crusaders'  reverence  for  the  Trinity.  The  peace  was 
celebrated  by  a  friendly  tournament  between  chosen 
Christian  and  Moslem  champions,  in  which  lances 
clave  through  armor  and  swords  drew  life-blood  in 
mere  play.  The  gates  of  Jerusalem  were  thrown 
open  that  the  warriors  of  the  cross  might  kneel  at  the 
spot  where  the  symbol  of  their  faith  had  stood  when 
their  God  hung  upon  it,  and  so  return  to  Europe 
having  accomplished  a  holy  pilgrimage,  if  not  a  suc- 
cessful warfare. 

Thus  ended  the  third  crusade,  marked  b)^  the  loss 
of  perhaps  a  half-million  Europeans,  the  foremost  of 
emperors,  an  inestimable  amount  of  treasure,  and  the 
prestige  of  Christendom  as  against  the  onrolling  power 
of  the  Moslem  world. 


232  The  Third  Crusade. 

Richard  returned  to  Europe  (October  9,  1192). 
He  was  led  to  this  purpose  not  more  by  his  evident 
inabihty  to  found  a  kingdom  in  Palestine  than  by  the 
necessity  of  maintaining  his  kingdom  at  home.  Philip 
Augustus  was  menacing  his  domain.  When  this 
fellow-crusader  left  Palestine  he  renewed  his  oath 
with  Richard  not  to  commence  any  hostilities  against 
him  during  his  absence.  It  is  said  that  he  applied 
to  the  Pope  for  a  dispensation  from  this  vow.  If  this 
was  not  so,  his  actions  showed  that  its  restrictions 
were  irksome  to  him.  Longchamp,  whom  Richard 
had  left  in  charge  of  the  English  government  con- 
jointly with  the  Bishop  of  Durham,  endeavored  to 
exercise  limitless  control.  Even  the  mandates  of 
Richard  were  disregarded  by  him.  Compelled  to 
flee  the  country,  Longchamp  became  the  open  pro- 
moter of  Philip's  designs.  Philip  made  war  upon 
Richard's  possessions  in  Normandy,  and  seduced  from 
his  allegiance  Prince  John,  the  king's  younger  brother, 
destined  to  be  his  successor  on  the  throne. 

Richard,  not  daring  to  pass  through  France  lest 
Philip  should  lay  violent  hands  upon  his  person,  sailed 
up  the  Adriatic.  He  was  shipwrecked  near  Aquileia, 
and  in  disguise  made  his  way  northward  through 
Austria.  But  no  need  of  caution  could  restrain  the 
impulsiveness  of  Richard,  either  in  war  or  in  pleasure. 
Dressed  as  a  pilgrim,  he  lived  as  a  prince ;  his  prodi- 
gality easily  led  to  his  identification.  Duke  Leo- 
pold of  Austria,  whose  banner  he  had  thrown  into 
the  ditch  at  Acre,  now  took  occasion  to  avenge  that 
insult.  He  arrested  Richard  and  threw  him  into 
prison   (1193).     The   German   emperor,  Henry  VI., 


Captivity  of  Richard.  233 

also  claimed  the  royal  captive,  and  secured  his  person 
by  paying  to  Leopold  sixty  thousand  pieces  of  silver. 
The  chronicler  remarks,  in  the  spirit  of  that  age : 
"  Forewarnings  of  this  calamity  had  appeared  in 
unusual  seasons,  inundations  of  fivers,  awful  storms 
of  thunder  and  rain,  with  dreadful  lightning." 

England,  through  Richard's  mother,  Eleanor,  ap- 
pealed in  vain  to  the  Pope  to  intervene,  inasmuch  as 
the  holy  see  had  guaranteed  the  humblest — and  surely 
the  noblest — crusader  against  any  detriment  from 
Christians.  But  the  priests  of  Rome  were  politicians, 
and  made  no  sign.  Philip  of  France,  now  in  league 
with  Prince  John,  and  relieved  of  his  dread  of  Rich- 
ard, boldly  made  war  in  Normandy,  where,  however, 
he  was  repulsed  by  Robert  of  Leicester,  a  crusader 
who,  more  fortunate  than  his  king,  had  reached  home. 
Prince  John  also  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to 
seat  himself  on  his  brother's  throne. 

In  the  meanwhile  Richard  chafed  in  a  dungeon 
where  he  was  loaded  with  irons.  His  perpetual  in- 
carceration, or  his  assassination,  being  fraught  with 
too  much  danger  to  his  captors,  it  was  determined  to 
bring  him  to  judicial  disgrace.  He  was  therefore 
summoned  before  the  Diet  of  the  Empire  at  Worms, 
and  formally  accused  of  crimes  of  all  sorts,  such  as 
having  insulted  the  Duke  of  Austria,  having  assassi- 
nated Conrad  of  Montferrat,  having  concluded  a  dis- 
graceful treaty  with  Saladin.  The  royal  captive,  with 
marvellous  self-restraint  for  him,  deigned  to  explain 
these  matters;  then  he  burst  out  into  indignant  de- 
nunciation of  his  captors.  The  princes  of  Germany 
were   made  ashamed  of  the  ignominy  that  in  their 


234  1^^^  Third  Crusade. 

name  had  been  thrust  upon  the  foremost  hero  of  the 
age.  Even  prelates  at  length  remembered  that  Rich- 
ard had  remained  alone  in  Palestine  when  others  were 
wearied  with  the  defence  of  the  faith. 

Henry  VI.  was  forced  to  release  his  royal  captive. 
Yet  he  managed  to  fix  as  his  ransom  a  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  marks.  This  large  amount  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  raise.  The  churches  of  England  melted  their 
plate ;  prelates  paid  a  fourth  of  their  income,  the  lower 
clergy  a  tenth,  and  all  ranks  a  commensurate  tax. 
Queen  Eleanor  in  person  bore  the  sum  thus  collected 
to  Mayence  (1194).  Henry,  however,  could  not  yet 
brook  his  victim's  escape.  Having  received  the  ran- 
som, he  ordered  Richard's  rearrest ;  but  the  English 
ship  that  bore  him  slipped  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Schelde  before  the  officers  could  overtake  it.  Philip 
of  France  sent  this  ungraceful  but  timely  warning  to 
Prince  John:  "Take  care  of  yourself;  the  devil  is 
broken  loose."  One  chronicler  notes  that  at  the  very 
hour  in  which  the  king  landed  in  England  there 
appeared  "  a  brilliant  and  unusual  splendor  in  the 
heavens,  of  a  very  white  and  red  color,  about  the 
length  and  breadth  of  a  human  body."  He  also  ob- 
serves that  Duke  Leopold  of  Austria  was  horribly 
punished  for  his  cruelty  to  Richard.  Infernal  fires 
were  kindled  in  his  limbs,  whose  progress  he  in  vain 
tried  to  stay  by  amputating  his  own  foot  with  an  axe, 
and  at  length  expired  in  dreadful  agony.  Romance 
has  invented  a  pleasing  story  of  Blondel,  Richard's 
friend  and  minstrel,  who  discovered  the  place  of  his 
king's  imprisonment  by  singing  in  its  proximity  a 
familiar  song,  to  which  Richard  responded.    It  is  true 


Death  of  Saladin.  235 


to  the  times,  but  the  historian  cannot  vouch  for  its 
basis  in  fact. 

Before  Richard  reached  his  throne  his  great  com- 
petitor for  renown  in  arms,  SahuUn,  had  passed  away 
(March,  1193).  He  had  retired  lo  Damascus.  A 
year  after  the  peace,  feeUng  the  approach  of  the  last 
enemy,  and  realizing  that  a  greater  than  Richard  was 
upon  him,  he  ordered  that  his  burial  shroud,  instead 
of  his  usual  standard,  should  be  carried  through  all 
the  streets  of  Damascus,  while  his  herald  cried,  "  This 
—this  is  all  that  remains  of  the  glory  of  Saladin,  who 
conquered  the  East." 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

PALESTINE    AFTER    THE    THIRD    CRUSADE — HENRY 
VI. — SIEGE    OF    THORON. 


FTER  the  death  of  Saladin  his  empire 
fell  to  pieces.  Afdhal,  his  eldest  son,  se- 
cured the  title  of  Sultan  of  Damascus ; 
another  son,  Aziz,  that  of  Sultan  of 
Egypt;  and  a  third,  Dahir,  that  of  Sultan 
of  Aleppo ;  Malek-Ahdel,  his  brother,  the  rule  over 
Mesopotamia.  Afdhal  warred  upon  Aziz,  and  Malek- 
Ahdel  took  advantage  of  the  reverses  of  both. 

The  Christians  also  fought  among  themselves.  The 
jealousies  of  Templars  and  Hospitallers  were  intense. 
These  two  orders  had,  since  their  founding  early  in 
the  century,  grown  to  be  powerful  organizations,  not 
only  in  Palestine,  but  throughout  Europe.  They 
held  valuable  property  in  all  lands.  Princes,  feudal 
lords,  and  high  dignitaries  of  the  church  were  en- 
rolled in  their  membership.  They  were  rivals  every- 
where for  the  repute  of  bravery,  as  well  as  in  wealth 
and  political  influence.  The  Roman  see  exempted 
their  members  from  secular  taxation,  and  even  from 
religious  oversight,  except  by  the  Holy  Father  himself. 
Their  grand  masters  were  autocratic  sovereigns  within 

236 


Various  Minor  Crusades.  237 

their  orders.  Naturally  they  became  overbearing, 
intolerant  of  interference,  amenable  to  no  counsel  but 
their  own.  Their  power  bred  audacity,  and  eccle- 
siastical privileges  fostered  the  conceit  of  saintship, 
which  even  their  crimes  could  not  tarnish.  As  they 
despised  the  rest  of  mankind,  so  the  two  orders  hated 
each  other  as  rivals. 

The  Pope  appealed  for  a  new  crusade,  but  could 
not  evoke  any  popular  response.  Richard  of  Eng- 
land and  Philip  of  France  had  such  mutual  suspicion 
that  neither  would  leave  his  domain  to  the  depreda- 
tions of  the  other ;  and  they  hated  each  other  too 
cordially  to  again  unite  their  arms  in  the  common 
cause.  A  few  listened  to  the  Pope's  appeal,  among 
them  Simon  de  Montfort,  afterwards  known  for  his 
butchery  of  the  Albigenses. 

It  was  reserved  for  Henry  VI.,  the  contemptible 
persecutor  of  Richard,  to  represent  the  royalty  of 
Europe  in  response  to  the  call  of  the  Holy  Father. 
He  emulated  the  fame  of  his  father,  Frederick  Bar- 
barossa,  whose  ambition  he  inherited  with  neither  his 
character  nor  ability.  Not  content  with  issuing  royal 
mandates,  he  himself  became  a  preacher  of  the  holy 
war  (spring  of  1195).  An  army  under  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Mayence,  which  was  joined  by  Queen 
Margaret  of  Hungary,  moved  eastward  by  way  of 
the  Danube.  Another,  under  the  dukes  of  Saxony 
and  Brabant,  left  the  ports  of  the  Baltic.  Henry 
marched  with  a  force  for  Italy,  but  had  his  eye  rather 
on  Sicily  than  Palestine. 

The  first  army  reached  Acre,  and  began  ravaging 
the   Moslem   lands  in  spite  of   the  protests  of   the 


238    Palestine  after  the  Third  Crusade. 

Christian  inhabitants,  who  could  not  bring  themselves 
to  so  shameful  a  breach  of  treaty.  Instantly  the  di- 
visions of  the  Infidels  were  healed.  From  Egypt, 
Damascus,  and  Mesopotamia,  the  Moslems  rallied  to 
Jerusalem.  Assigning  command  to  Malek-Ahdel, 
they  took  summary  vengeance  upon  the  invaders. 
Jaffa  fell  at  once  into  their  hands. 

The  second  army  of  Christians,  having  made  the 
voyage  down  the  Atlantic  and  through  the  Mediter- 
ranean, landed  at  Beirut  and  inflicted  a  crushing 
defeat  upon  Malek-Ahdel,  who  had  advanced  from 
Jaffa  to  oppose  its  progress. 

Henry  VI.  busied  himself  in  Sicily  until  he  had 
secured  that  country,  and  with  it  restored  the  im- 
perial preponderance  in  the  affairs  of  Italy.  This  he 
accomplished  through  the  perpetration  of  barbarities 
from  which  the  Turks  would  have  recoiled,  and  in 
which  the  Greeks  at  Constantinople  were  his  only 
competitors.  He  put  out  the"  eyes  of  the  son  of 
Tancred,  ruler  of  Cyprus,  and  stole  his  daughters. 
With  the  instinct  of  a  ghoul,  he  dug  up  the  body  of 
Tancred  in  order  to  strip  from  it  the  badge  of  dead 
royalty.  When  he  had  satisfied  his  remorseless 
ambition  in  this  section,  he  allowed  the  remnant  of 
his  army  to  proceed  to  Palestine  for  the  succor  of 
their  brethren.  He  engaged  to  keep  a  force  of  fifty 
thousand  in  the  Holy  Land  for  one  year  at  his  own 
expense.  The  third  army  was  led  by  Conrad,  Bishop 
of  Hildesheim,  chancellor  of  the  empire. 

Thus  augmented,  the  Christians  in  the  East  were 
enthusiastic  for  the  recapture  of  Jerusalem;  but  the 
coming  of  winter,  the  well-known  strengthening  of 


Siege  of  TJioron.  239 

the  fortifications  about  the  Holy  City,  and,  above  all, 
the  dissensions  among  the  rival  leaders,  who  cared 
more  for  the  maritime  cities,  with  their  treasures,  than 
for  a  place  whose  chief  glory  was  its  sacredness,  led 
to  the  postponement  of  the  enterprise  until  the  spring. 

An  assault  upon  Thoron  occupied  them  meanwhile. 
The  fortress  of  Thoron,  between  the  Lebanons  and 
the  Mediterranean,  was  the  great  menace  to  the  am- 
bition of  the  invaders.  This  stronghold  was  on  the 
top  of  a  mountain,  and  guarded  from  hostile  approach 
by  precipitous  walls  and  deep  ravines.  Its  seeming 
impregnability  did  not  daunt  the  spirit  of  the  crusa- 
ders ;  they  bridged  chasms  and  dug  into  cliffs,  until 
they  thoroughly  undermined  the  masonry  of  the 
fortress. 

The  Moslems,  realizing  their  extremity,  proposed 
to  capitulate  on  simj)ly  being  guaranteed  their  lives. 
The  proposition  divided  the  Christian  leaders,  the 
majority  being  willhig  to  accept  this  condition  of 
surrender;  but  many,  overcome  by  their  passion  for 
blood,  voted  to  give  no  quarter.  The  attitude  of 
this  latter  party  in  the  conference  convinced  the 
Moslem  deputies  that  the  lives  of  their  people  would 
nf)t  be  safe  even  under  the  sacredness  of  an  agree- 
ment, an  impression  which  was  confirmed  by  the 
remembrance  of  past  occasions  when  the  Christians 
won  the  name  of  truce-breakers.  Believing  that  they 
had  nothing  to  hope  for,  the  Moslems  resolved  to 
fight  it  out.  In  vain  did  the  more  moderate  among 
the  besiegers  assure  them  of  protection.  The  broken 
ramparts  were  repaired,  or  the  gaps  filled  with  solid 
ranks  of  soldiers  who  with  upraised  swords  invoked 


240     Palestine  after  the  Third  Crusade. 

the  judgment  of  Allah.  They  countermined,  and  met 
their  assailants  in  subterranean  passages.  The  Saxon 
miners  who  entered  these  shafts  often  reappeared  in 
the  hands  of  captors  upon  the  walls,  whence  they  were 
hurled  by  the  engines  through  the  air,  to  fall  dead  in 
the  camp  they  had  left.  The  desperate  valor  of  the 
Moslems  depressed  the  hosts  which  but  yesterday 
were  waiting  to  bathe  their  victorious  swords  in  the 
blood  of  the  victims.  The  chiefs  accused  one  another 
of  cowardice  and  treachery.  The  miserable  rivalry 
led  them  one  by  one  to  desert  and  retire  to  the  coast. 
One  day,  when  the  orders  for  general  assault  had 
been  issued,  the  various  divisions  found  themselves 
without  leaders  and  without  plans.  Disorder  was 
followed  by  panic,  augmented  by  the  report  that 
Malek-Ahdel  had  been  joined  by  Aziz,  the  son  of 
Saladin  and  Sultan  of  Egypt,  and  that  soon  this  force 
would  be  upon  them.  A  furious  tempest  swept  over 
the  mountain.  Their  superstition  heard  in  the  thun- 
ders the  malediction  of  heaven,  and  saw  in  the  freshets 
which  obliterated  the  paths  the  vengeance  of  nature 
for  their  having  turned  aside  from  the  conquest  of 
Jerusalem.  The  Germans  made  a  wretched  flight 
for  Jaffa;  the  Syrian  Christians  huddled  themselves 
into  Acre.  Malek-Ahdel  quickly  assaulted  Jaffa,  and, 
though  repulsed,  left  the  dukes  of  Saxony  and  Bra- 
bant dead  upon  the  field. 

News  soon  came  of  the  death  of  the  Emperor 
Henry  VI.  (September  28,  1197).  The  German 
chieftains  hastened  their  return  to  Europe  in  order 
to  secure  their  individual  interests  with  the  successor 
to  the  imperial  throne.     In  vain  did  the  Pope  protest 


Discouragement  of  Christendom.        24 1 

against  the  desertion  of  the  pious  cause.  A  woman, 
Queen  Margaret  of  Hungary,  alone  remained  with 
her  soldiers  on  the  sacred  soil.  The  remnant  left  at 
Jaffa  were  surprised  during  a  roisterous  and  drunken 
celebration  of  the  feast  of  St.  Martin,  and  were  mas- 
sacred almost  to  a  man  by  the  Moslems. 

Thus  terminated  what  some  writers  denominate 
the  fourth  crusade,  but  which  surely  deser\es  no  such 
designation.  It  was  a  European  raid  in  which  the 
religious  motive  scarcely  evidenced  itself  except  in 
the  fact  that  it  was  proclaimed  by  a  Pope.  The  thirty 
ounces  of  gold  which  Henry  VI.  promised  to  each  of 
his  soldiers  seem  to  have  been  more  influential  over 
their  minds  than  even  the  desire  to  pray  at  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  The  movement  inspired  new  confidence 
in  the  prowess  of  the  Moslems,  confirming  their  own 
belief  in  the  invincibility  of  their  Prophet,  and  excit- 
ing a  query  throughout  the  Christian  world,  if  Christ 
had  not  deserted  His  people  because  of  their  sins. 


THE  FOURTH  CRUSADE. 


CHAPTER  XXXn. 

HISTORY    AND    CONDITION    OF    CONSTANTINOPLE. 

N  the  year  395  the  Roman  world  was  di- 
vided into  the  empires  of  the  East  and 
the  West,  and  Constantinople  became  the 
rival  capital  of  that  on  the  Tiber.  Eighty- 
one  years  later  (476)  Odoacer,  the  barba- 
rian, sacked  Rome  and  brought  to  an  end  the  Western 
Empire,  from  which  time  Constantinople  claimed  the 
sole  heirship  to  the  power  of  the  Caesars.  In  800 
Charlemagne  reestablished  the  imperial  power  in 
western  Europe,  but  within  fifty  years  it  again  fell  to 
pieces  in  the  hands  of  his  less  puissant  sons.  The 
Greek  emperors  and  people  assumed  the  title  of 
Romans.     Their  capital  was  called  New  Rome. 

There  had  occurred  a  similar  breach  between  the 
Roman  and  Greek  churches.  A  doctrinal  divergence 
had  assumed  irreconcilable  proportions  in  the  sixth 
century.  The  controversy  centred  chiefly  in  the  ques- 
tion of  whether  the  Holy  Spirit  proceeded  equally 

242 


Weakness  of  Greek  Emperors.         243 


from  the  Father  and  the  Son,  or  solely  from  the 
Father-  the  Roman  Church  maintaining  the  former 
docrma,'  as  expressed  by  the  addition  of  the  word 
•'  FiHoque"  to  the  Nicene  Creed,  the  Greek  Church 
repudiating  it.  Many  minor  differences  of  doctrine 
and  discipline  were  also  generated.  Ecclesiastical 
separation  followed.  After  generations  of  wranglmg, 
the  Pope's  legates  shook  the  dust  from  their  feet  and 
departed  from  Constantinople,  leaving  on  the  altar  of 
St.  Sophia  a  writ  of  excommunication  and  anathema. 
Thus  the  last  tie  between  the  two  peoples  was  sun- 
dered. 

From  867  to   1057  the  Basilian  dynasty  steadily 
compacted  the  power,  developed  the  governmental 
system,  augmented  the  wealth,  and  extended  the  area 
of  the  Greek  empire.      From  1057,  however,  under 
the    dynasty    of    the    Comneni,    Greek    prestige    as 
steadily  declined.     The  strength  of  its  dominion  had 
been  largely  due  to  the  preservation  of  a  municipal 
and  provincial  spirit,  a  virtual  independence  of  its 
various  communities,  each  seeking  its  own  welfare, 
while  all  maintained  their  loyalty  to  the  central  au- 
thority.   Under  the  later  Basilians  ambitious  emperors 
adopted  the  policy  of  absorbing  all  the  local  rights 
into  their  personal  control.     The  Comneni  continued 
this  fatal  policy,   but  their  hands  were  not  strong 
enough  to  retain  what  they  had  grasped.     The  oc- 
cupants of  the  Greek  throne  were  weak  men.     The 
names  of  Isaac,  Michael,  Nicephorus,  and  Alexius 
are  those  of  pygmies  compared  with  the  German 
emperors  and  the  popes  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries.     Indeed,  in  the  East  the  art  of  statesman- 


244  ^^^^  Fourth  Crusade. 

ship  had  been  lost.  The  rulers  of  Constantinople  were 
intriguers,  not  diplomats.  With  them  dissimulation 
took  the  place  of  caution,  trickery  that  of  courage, 
and  prosperity  was  measured  only  by  the  number 
and  value  of  the  royal  perquisites.  The  Oriental 
practice  of  farming  the  revenue  was  the  easiest 
method  of  obtaining  income.  He  was  regarded  as 
the  wisest  administrator  who  squeezed  the  largest 
amount  from  the  unwilling  people.  Officers  were 
commissioned  without  salary  or  even  provision  for 
their  expenses,  it  being  expected  that  they  would 
first  of  all  feather  their  own  nests.  Even  an  emperor 
is  accused  of  fitting  out  vessels  for  piracy  upon  his 
own  seas. 

The  personal  character  of  the  later  Greek  monarchs 
was  equally  despicable  with  their  system  of  govern- 
ment. Alexius  Comnenus  spent  his  time  in  play. 
Andronicus  was  chiefly  renowned  for  the  magnifi- 
cence of  his  horse-shows,  attendance  at  which  was 
varied  by  drunken  debauches  and  acts  of  cowardly 
cruelty.  Isaac  was  noted  for  the  wasteful  extrava- 
gance of  his  table,  the  frequent  changes  of  his  apparel, 
and  the  peacock  magnificence  of  his  public  appear- 
ances. It  is  said  that  madmen  were  held  in  honor 
as  being  under  the  special  direction  of  Heaven,  and  it 
would  seem  from  their  conduct  that  the  emperors  were 
ambitious  to  secure  this  sole  mark  of  the  divine  favor. 

Such  rulers,  having  lost  the  respect,  could  not  hold 
the  loyalty  of  their  subjects.  The  people  no  longer 
responded  to  the  calls  of  the  throne  for  aid  in  the 
war-fields.  Indeed,  the  independent  peasant  class, 
having  been  reduced  to  virtual  slavery,  were  more 


Foreign  Aggressio?is.  245 

ready  to  admit  a  change  of  rulers  than  to  risk  their 
lives  for  the  support  of  such  as  they  had.  The  em- 
perors were  thus  compelled  to  surround  themselves 
with  mercenaries  whom  they  hired  in  foreign  coun- 
tries. Slavonians,  Italians,  Warings  (Saxons  who 
were  crowded  out  of  England  by  the  recent  Norman 
conquest),  filled  the  armies  and  oppressed  the  citizens. 
The  Greek  navy  was  composed  chiefly  of  Venetian 
bottoms,  and  manned  by  water-dogs  from  every 
seaport  in  Europe.  To  these  elements  of  decrepitude 
we  must  add  the  ceaseless  strife  for  occupancy  of  the 
imperial  throne.  During  the  quarter-century  ending 
with  1200  there  were  more  claimants  than  there  were 
years. 

This  internal  weakness  of  the  Byzantine  or  Greek 
empire  left  it  largely  the  prey  of  enemies  from  with- 
out. Ever  since  their  first  irruption  from  their  original 
home  in  central  Asia  the  Turks  had  menaced  the 
imperial  provinces.  They  succeeded  in  wresting  vast 
lands,  and  in  either  driving  out  their  Christian  inhabi- 
tants or  making  them  tributary  to  the  cause  of  Islam. 
Asia  Minor  was  lost  to  the  Greek,  and  the  Moslem 
negotiated  with  his  foe  from  the  banks  of  the  Bos- 
porus. During  the  twelfth  century  scarcely  a  year 
passed  which  did  not  witness  some  battle  between 
the  Byzantines  and  the  Turks.  Defeated  by  the  crusa- 
ders, these  quick-moving  hordes  of  the  East  found 
redress  in  ravaging  some  part  of  the  empire.  When 
victorious  in  Syria  they  echoed  their  joy  in  new 
battle-shouts  in  the  direction  of  the  Greek  capital. 
Their  swords  dripped  blood  on  the  shores  of  the  Mar- 
mora and  the  Black  Sea  almost  as  frequently  as  on 


246  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

the  fields  of  Syria.  In  1185  the  emperor  was  com- 
pelled to  purchase  immunity  from  attack  by  paying 
tribute  to  the  Sultan  of  Iconium,  and  even  to  call  in 
the  assistance  of  Saladin  to  secure  him  from  the  as- 
gressions  of  other  Moslem  hordes. 

The  Huns  also  assailed  the  Byzantine  power.  In 
1 184  Maria,  dowager  empress  at  Constantinople,  was 
put  to  death  for  having  engaged  these  ruthless  people, 
under  their  king,  Bela,  to  invade  the  empire.  Bul- 
garians, Patchinaks,  Turkomans,  Wallachs,  and  Ser- 
vians raided  in  turn  the  Balkan  peninsula. 

The  crusaders  also,  with  their  enormous  armies 
and  the  pilgrim  hordes  that  followed  them,  made 
the  Greek  lines  their  camping-ground,  their  forage- 
fields,  and  their  battle-sites,  until  Constantinople 
dreaded  these  fellow- Christians  as  much  as  it  feared 
the  Infidels.  Richard  of  England  took  Cyprus  from 
the  Greeks  and  ultimately  gave  it  to  the  Templars. 
Henry  VI.  of  Germany  forced  from  the  emperor  five 
thousand  pounds  of  gold,  as  the  price  of  the  immunity 
of  his  lands  from  the  ravages  of  Western  armies.  The 
imperial  treasury  was  so  depleted  that  the  churches 
of  Constantinople  were  rifled  to  raise  what  was  thus 
called  the  "  German  tax." 

Beyond  the  actual  aggressions  of  the  Latin  Chris- 
tians upon  their  Greek  brethren  there  was  developed 
a  deeper  menace  in  the  hatred  which  had  sprung  up 
between  the  two  peoples.  Throughout  Europe  the 
eagerness  to  exterminate  the  Moslems  was  almost 
matched  by  a  purpose  to  subjugate  the  Greek  power. 
For  this  antipathy  there  were  other  and  special  oc- 
casions, some  of  which  we  will  narrate. 


Antipathy  of  Europeans.  247 

The  Normans,  who,  under  Robert  Guiscard,  had 
in  1062  conquered  Sicily,  were  the  inveterate  foes  of 
Constantinoj)le.  Robert  and  his  son,  Bohemond,  in- 
vaded Epirus  and  Thessaly.  In  i  107  Bohemond 
repeated  the  attempt  to  capture  the  western  borders 
of  the  empire.  In  i  1 30  Roger  of  Sicily  made  alhance 
with  the  German  emjjcror  for  the  same  purpose. 
WiUiam,  son  of  Roger,  in  1156  pillaged  Corfu,  Cor- 
inth, and  some  of  the  /Egean  Islands,  and  sent  a 
fleet  to  parade  his  insults  in  the  Bosporus  and  Golden 
Horn,  where  his  sailors  shot  gilded  arrows  against 
the  very  palace  walls. 

About  1 1 80  the  Emperor  Andronicus  cruelly 
massacred  the  Latins  in  Constantinople,  dragging 
the  sick  from  their  beds  in  the  hospital  of  St.  John, 
and  decapitating  the  papal  envoy.  Cardinal  John, 
whose  head  w-as  tied  to  a  dog's  tail  and  dragged 
about  the  streets.  William  II.  of  Sicily  appointed  a 
certain  Tancred,  his  agent,  to  avenge  these  atrocities. 
Tancred  sacked  Salonica  and  ravaged  Macedonia  and 
Thrace.  In  11 94  Henry,  King  of  Sicily,  claimed  all 
these  lands  and  held  Irene,  daughter  of  the  Emperor 
Isaac,  as  hostage.  Thus  the  Sicilians  were  always 
ready  to  leap  at  the  throat  of  the  Greek  empire  in 
sheer  vengeance,  if  not  with  thirst  for  the  blood  of 
spoil. 

Another  menace  to  the  Eastern  Empire  was  from 
the  Italians,  who  were  represented  by  large  colonies 
throughout  the  imperial  territories,  and  even  in  the 
capital  itself,  where  they  enjoyed  for  a  time  excep- 
tional privileges,  such  as  being  directly  governed  by 
their  own  ambassadors,  having  fa\  ored  rates  of  tariff 


248  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

on  their  commerce,  often  amounting  to  free  trade, 
and  at  times  receiving  high  appointments  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  empire.  Yet  these  prosperous  conditions 
were  frequently  interrupted  by  quarrels  with  the 
Greeks,  reaching  on  occasions  to  civil  war  within  the 
walls  of  the  capital.  Pisan  and  Genoese  pirates 
ravaged  the  yEgean,  and  even  blockaded  the  Dar- 
danelles against  the  passage  of  Greek  ships.  In  1 198 
these  freebooters  defeated  the  imperial  navy. 

Venice,  however,  was  the  most  formidable  of  these 
rivals  for  power  within  the  empire,  as  she  had  been 
at  times  the  most  favored  nation.  In  1171  the 
Venetians  attacked  Dalmatia  and  pillaged  the  .^gean, 
until  they  were  forced  by  herculean  efforts  of  the 
Greek  government  to  sue  for  peace.  Henry  Dandolo 
conducted  the  mission  for  treaty,  and  during  his  stay 
in  Constantinople  became  blind.  It  is  asserted  by 
the  Venetians  that  his  affliction  was  due  to  torture 
perpetrated  upon  him  by  command  of  the  emperor. 
It  was  a  common  practice  of  the  Greeks  to  destroy 
the  sight  of  those  they  would  render  impotent  to  do 
them  harm.  This  ancient  punishment  was  called 
abacination ;  the  process  was  that  of  forcing  the 
victim  to  gaze  into  a  basin  of  highly  polished  metal, 
which  by  its  shape  concentrated  the  rays  of  sunlight 
and  constituted  a  burning-mirror.  Whether  this  is 
the  true  explanation  of  his  blindness  or  not,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  Dandolo  ever  after  displayed  an  absorbing 
passion  to  wreak  vengeance  upon  the  Greek  power, 
and  we  shall  find  him  foremost  among  its  foes  in  the 
fatal  expedition  called  the  fourth  crusade. 

But,  aside  from  these  inducements,  the  wealth  of 


Riches  of  Constantinople.  249 

the  city  offered  to  the  covetous  a  prize  second  to  none 
in  the  world.  The  situation  of  Constantinople  on  the 
narrow  highway  of  the  Bosporus  or  Strait  of  St. 
George,  which  connects  the  Black  Sea  with  the  Medi- 
terranean, made  it  mistress  of  the  maritime  commerce 
between  Europe  and  Asia.  Neighboring  countries 
contributed  by  their  very  geograpliical  relation  to  the 
power  on  the  Bosporus.  The  Balkan  peninsula,  ter- 
minating in  the  classic  land  of  Greece,  and  fringed 
with  the  islands  of  the  ./Egean  and  the  Adriatic; 
the  eastern  provinces  of  Europe,  drained  by  the 
Danube,  whose  mouth  was  hard  by  ;  Russia  from  the 
Siberian  snows  to  the  temperate  climate  of  the  Eux- 
ine ;  Asia  Minor,  the  seat  of  ancient  civilization  in 
the  middle  Orient,  even  to  the  entrance  of  Persia; 
the  Holy  Land,  and  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Nile — 
each  of  these,  in  extent  and  population  enough  for 
an  empire,  and  all  of  them  lying  in  easy  accessibility, 
fitted  Constantinople  to  be  the  natural  capital  of  the 
greatest  power  in  the  world. 

Its  immediate  site,  too,  was  inviting.  Enthroned 
upon  magnificent  hills,  with  the  harbor  of  the  Golden 
Horn  as  a  safe  refuge  for  its  fleets,  and  a  salubrious 
climate  assured  by  the  perpetual  breeze  from  either 
of  the  great  seas  which  lay  at  its  feet,  it  was  the 
especial  abode  of  comfort  and  splendor.  In  its  stately 
palaces,  churches,  and  public  squares  was  preserved 
the  best  art  inherited  from  the  ancient  world,  for  which 
the  temples  of  Greece,  Asia  Minor,  Egypt,  and  the 
isles  of  the  Mediterranean  had  been  rifled.  Its  mer- 
chants lived  with  the  splendor  of  princes,  dwelling  in 
palatial  homes,  adorning  themselves  with  most  costly 


250  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

robes  and  rarest  gems,  and  clothing  even  their  horses 
with  gold.  To  outrank  their  subjects  in  splendor, 
princes  lived  in  houses  whose  columns  and  walls  were 
sheathed  in  golden  plates.  The  palaces  of  Blachern 
and  Bucolion  were  furnished  with  incredible  treasures. 

The  Church  of  St.  Sophia,  says  Benjamin  of  Tudela 
(1161),  was  richer  than  "all  other  places  of  worship 
in  the  world."  To  its  magnificence  Ephesus  had 
contributed  eight  pillars  from  the  temple  of  Diana ; 
Aurelian's  Roman  temple  of  the  sun,  eight  columns 
of  porphyry;  the  temples  of  the  Nile,  twenty-four 
columns  of  polished  granite.  Its  vestries  contained 
"  forty-two  thousand  robes  embroidered  with  pearls 
and  precious  stones."  But  St.  Sophia  was  only  one 
of  many  churches  whose  golden  domes  flashed  over 
the  Bosporus.  Other  structures  vied  with  the  temples. 
The  hippodrome  was  nine  hundred  feet  long,  lined 
with  tiers  of  white  marble  seats,  from  which  the  spec- 
tators, in  the  intervals  of  the  races,  admired  the  four 
horses  in  bronze  which  now  surmount  the  entrance 
of  St.  Mark's  in  Venice.  Columns,  statues,  baths 
innumerable,  feasted  the  eyes  or  invited  the  indul- 
gence of  the  citizens. 

Even  more  tempting  to  the  covetous  piety  of  the 
western  Europeans  were  the  stores  of  sacred  relics 
possessed  by  the  churches  and  monasteries.  It  was 
believed  that  more  than  half  the  objects  of  veneration 
associated  with  dead  saints  throughout  the  world 
were  in  case  or  crypt  within  Constantinople ;  and  the 
common  faith  attributed  to  the  army  of  saints  thus 
honored,  and  whose  ghosts  were  presumably  guard- 
ing their  bones,  the  preservation  of  the  city  during 


Suburban  Wealth.  251 

so  many  generations.  Most  of  these  relics  had  been 
purchased  at  or  stolen  from  their  original  resting- 
places  in  different  parts  of  the  East ;  but  many  un- 
doubtedly were  manufactured  to  gratify  the  credul- 
ity of  the  foreigners  who  thronged  the  bazaars. 

To  the  treasures  of  the  capital  itself  must  be  added 
the  wealth  of  the  territory  subject  to  it.  Western 
Europe,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  impoverished  by 
generations  of  feudal  control ;  district  had  warred 
upon  district  until  the  spoil  was  insufficient  to  evoke 
further  forays.  In  marked  contrast,  the  Greek  lands 
had  been  measurably  protected  by  having  a  central 
government.  The  ground  was  well  tilled ;  many 
handicrafts  were  developed.  Instead  of  feudal  towers, 
shadowing  the  lower  classes  with  desolation,  were 
well-filled  granaries  and  storehouses  of  goods.  Fair 
roads  invited  intercourse  of  adjacent  comnuinities ; 
and  at  a  time  when  robbers  infested  the  suburbs  of 
every  town,  and  lay  in  wait  in  every  forest  of  Europe, 
the  shores  of  the  Bosporus  and  the  eastern  end  of  the 
Marmora  were  enlivened  with  cosey  cottages  and 
pleasant  villas.  The  Westerner  cast  envious  glances 
about  him  whenever  he  passed  the  beautiful  city 
on  the  strait,  and  the  early  crusaders  paused  to 
wonder  if  it  would  not  pay  them  as  well  to  extirpate 
the  Greek  heresies  as  to  slaughter  the  Moslems.  This 
inquiry  was  keener  from  the  fact  that  on  every  side, 
as  has  been  narrated,  they  saw  evidences  of  weakness. 
While  amazed  at  the  prosperity,  they  thought  of  the 
opportunities  offered  to  the  sword. 

The  most  envious  eyes  turned  upon  the  Greek 
lands  were  those  of  the  blind   old   Dandolo.     This 


252  The  Fourth  Crusade. 


remarkable  man  had  become  doge  of  Venice  in  1 192, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-two  (some  say  eighty-two),  and 
was  to  close  his  octogenarian  period  with  a  series  of 
exploits  which  might  have  been  the  envy  of  the  most 
daring  and  ambitious  youth.  To  understand  the  final 
diversion  of  the  fourth  crusade  from  its  original  re- 
ligious purpose,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  Dandolo's 
sleepless  purpose.  This  was  not  recognized  at  the 
time,  but  is  abundantly  illustrated  by  the  subsequent 
events  of  the  crusade,  and  confirmed  by  documents 
which  have  but  recently  come  to  light. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

THE  SUMMONS  TO  THE  FOURTH  CRUSADE — CON- 
TRACT WITH  VENICE — EGYPT  THE  DESTINA- 
TION— PHILIP    OF    SWABIA. 

N  the  year  1 198  there  came  to  the  papal 
throne  Innocent  III.,  one  of  the  most 
astute,  tireless,  and  ambitious  of  the  pon- 
tiffs, and,  to  those  who  accept  the  right- 
eousness of  the  hierarchical  supremacy- 
over  the  world,  one  of  the  best.  The  failure  of  re- 
cent enterprises  in  Palestine  afflicted  Innocent's  soul. 
He  announced  to  the  titular  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem 
his  purpose  of  massing  Europe  in  another  endeavor. 
His  summons  sounded  over  Christendom :  "  Arise, 
ye  faithful;  arise,  gird  on  the  sword  and  buckler; 
arise  and  hasten  to  the  help  of  Jesus  Christ.  He 
Himself  will  lead  your  banner  to  victory."  The 
Pope  sent  his  prelates  everywhere  to  bid  princes 
cease  their  mutual  quarrels  and  unite  in  the  common 
cause.  To  all  who  obeyed  he  gave  the  usual  promise, 
in  the  name  of  God,  of  remission  of  sins.  He  espe- 
cially entreated  sinners  to  mark  with  the  badge  of  the 
cross  their  moral  reformation,  and  the  saintly  disposed 
to  thus  add  new  adornment  to  their  crown  of  glory. 
His  own  earnestness  was  illustrated  by  his  melting 

253 


2  54  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

the  gold  and  silver  dishes  in  his  palace  into  market- 
able metal,  and  replacing  them  with  vessels  of  clay 
or  wood.  Foreseeing  a  lack  of  money  for  the  holy 
emprise,  he  bade  Christian  people  borrow  from  the 
Jews,  who  should  be  compelled  to  lend  without  in- 
terest. If  such  help  of  the  Lord  did  not  procure 
any  positive  blessing  to  this  accursed  people,  it 
would  at  least  prevent  the  penalty  of  the  total  de- 
struction of  their  business,  which  was  threatened  in 
case  of  their  not  complying.  Even  the  hated  Greeks 
were  to  be  allowed  some  part  in  this  holy  warfare. 
In  his  appeals  to  the  Emperor  Alexius  the  Pope 
predicts,  "  The  pagans  will  flee  before  you ;  "  and 
promises,  "  You  yourself  will  share  with  the  others 
in  the  pontifical  favors."  Lest  the  heretical  emperor 
should  not  feel  the  need  of  such  patronage.  Innocent 
reminds  him  that  God  had  said  to  the  Roman  pontiff 
what  He  had  said  of  old  to  Jeremiah  :  "  I  have  placed 
thee  over  the  nations  and  over  the  kingdoms,  to  root 
out,  and  to  pull  down,  to  waste,  and  to  destroy,  to 
build,  and  to  plant."  He  further  compares  himself 
to  the  sun,  and  secular  princes  to  the  moon,  which 
shines  in  borrowed  light.  The  emperor  in  reply,  with 
perhaps  a  premonition  of  what  was  about  to  transpire, 
reminded  the  Pope  of  the  ravages  which  Western  cru- 
saders were  accustomed  to  inflict  upon  his  realm,  and 
begged  him  to  first  rebuke  the  crimes  which  these 
zealots  for  God  were  disposed  to  perpetrate  against 
their  fellow-men. 

At  this  time  a  French  priest,  Fulque,  was  filUng 
the  land  with  his  fame  for  eloquence.  Crowds 
thronged  to  his  services  in  the  churches  and  fields. 


Fulque — Venetian  Ships  Hired.       255 


He  denounced  sin  with  tlie  power  of  an  Elijah,  and 
comforted  the  penitent  with  the  sweetness  of  a  St. 
John.  He  adapted  himself  marvellously  to  all  men, 
leading  the  lordly  profligate  to  repent  at  the  incensed 
altar,  and  making  the  boorish  peasants  kiss  the  stick 
with  which  he  beat  them  to  be  quiet  as  they  crowded 
about  him  in  the  fields.  Pope  Innocent  enlarged  this 
zealot's  commission  to  be  that  of  another  Peter  the 
Hermit,  or  Bernard,  in  preaching  the  crusade. 

Among  Pulque's  first  converts  was  Count  Theobald 
of  Champagne,  to  whom  over  two  thousand  knights 
did  homage  as  his  vassals.  He  was  chosen  to  com- 
mand the  French  contingent.  Louis  of  Chartres  and 
Blois  followed,  and  soon  a  host  was  enrolled  repre- 
senting the  nobility  and  wealth  of  France.  Among 
these  was  Villehardouin,  Marshal  of  Champagne,  to 
whom  we  are  largely  indebted  as  the  historian  of  the 
events  we  are  about  to  narrate.  Germany  also  an- 
swered the  call.  But  for  the  death  of  Richard  of  Eng- 
land (April,  1 199),  this  hero  would  doubtless  have 
been  chosen  to  lead  the  combined  host  with  an  Eng- 
lish army.  The  Venetians  do  not  seem  to  have 
volunteered  any  help  ;  perhaps  it  was  not  anticipated. 
The  Pope,  in  his  call  for  the  crusade,  had  expressly 
forbidden  Venice  to  furnish  the  Saracens  with  iron, 
ropes,  wood,  arms,  ships,  or  munitions  of  war;  for  in 
the  previous  holy  adventures  they  had  not  regarded 
trade  with  the  Infidels  as  infringing  upon  their  Chris- 
tian duty. 

The  military  leaders  already  chosen  were  averse  to 
another  overland  march  to  the  East,  since  every  in- 
terjacent country  was  marked  with  the  disasters  of 


256  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

previous  armies ;  they  therefore  decided  to  go  by  sea. 
The  commissioners  having  cliarge  of  the  expedition 
therefore  sent  messengers  to  Venice,  as  the  chief  mari- 
time power  in  the  West,  to  negotiate  with  Dandolo 
for  transportation  of  men  and  furnishing  of  provisions. 
After  a  week's  deliberation  the  Council  of  Venice 
made  answer.  Dandolo  proposed,  the  people  approv- 
ing, that  the  republic  should  provide  the  required 
vessels  and  a  definite  amount  of  food,  and  also  an  in- 
dependent fleet,  which  Dandolo  said  he  would  send 
"for  the  love  of  God."  He,  however,  required  in 
payment  for  such  equipment  and  service  eighty-five 
thousand  silver  marks,  and  that  half  the  cities  and 
lands  conquered  should  fall  to  the  Venetian  posses- 
sion. This  was  eagerly  agreed  to  by  the  commis- 
sioners. 

A  general  assembly  was  convoked  in  St.  Mark's  in 
Venice  (April,  1201).  Mass  was  celebrated  to  secure 
Heaven's  blessing  upon  the  compact.  Villehardouin 
thus  addressed  the  people :  "  The  lords  and  barons 
of  France,  the  most  high  and  the  most  powerful, 
have  sent  us  to  you  to  pray  you  in  the  name  of 
God  to  take  pity  on  Jerusalem,  which  the  Turks  hold 
in  bondage.  They  cry  to  you  for  mercy  and  suppli- 
cate you  to  accompany  them  to  avenge  the  disgrace 
of  Jesus  Christ.  They  have  made  choice  of  you  be- 
cause they  know  that  no  people  that  be  upon  the  sea 
have  such  powers  as  your  nation.  They  have  com- 
manded us  to  throw  ourselves  at  your  feet  and  not  to 
rise  until  you  shall  have  granted  our  prayer."  The 
commissioners  fell  upon  their  knees  and  raised  their 
hands   in   supplication   to   the   people.     The   crowd 


Crusaders  to  A  Hack  Egypt.  2  5  7 


caught  the  enthusiasm  and  cried,  "We  grant  your 
request  "  Dandolo  himself  overflowed  with  pious, 
not  to  say  politic,  emotion.  This  spectacle  of  frater- 
nal union  in  the  cause  of  Christ  drew  from  all  eyes 
•«  tears  of  tenderness  and  joy."  The  Pope  to  whom 
the  compact  was  submitted,  ratified  it  with  the  strict 
condition  that  under  no  circumstances  should  an 
attack  be  made  upon  any  Christian  state. 

It  was  deemed  best  to  land  the  crusading  armies 
at  Alexandria  in  Egypt ;  the  voyage  thither  would  be 
unmolested.     Besides,  a  series  of  events  had  taken 
place  in  Egypt  which  led  many  ^osee  the  hand  of  Prov- 
idence pointing  to  that  country.      In  1200  the  Nile 
had  for  some  mysterious  cause  failed  to  give  its  an^ 
nual  inundation  ;  harvests  had  failed  ;  famine  afflicted 
the  inhabitants,  who  were  reduced  to  feeding  upon 
grass,  the  dung  of  animals,  and  even  the  carcasses  of 
their  fellow-victims.     At  Cairo  women,  in  the  insanity 
of  starvation,  had  killed  and  eaten  their  own  children. 
To  famine  succeeded  plague  ;  one  hundred  and  eleven 
thousand  died  of  it  at  Cairo.    The  unburied  lay  every- 
where ;   a  fisherman  counted  four  hundred  corpses 
that  floated  by  him  during  a  single  day.     The  wrap- 
pings of  dead  bodies  were  as  numerous  on  the  waters 
of  the  Nile  as  lotus  flowers  in  their  season.    In  the  lan- 
<niage  of  an  Arabian.  "  The  most  populous  provinces 
were  as  a  banqueting-hall  for  the  birds  of  prey.      The 
Roman  pontiff  urged  Europe  to  take  the  opportunity 
of  these  terrible  visitations  to  break  the  treaties  be- 
tween Christians  and  Moslems  and  occupy  the  land 
of   the  Delta.     To  this  advice  the   military  leaders 
added  the  less  inhuman  consideration  that  Alexandria 


258  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

would  afford  a  ready  entrepot  for  supplies  from  the 
West,  and  a  convenient  point  from  which  to  strike  the 
enemy ;  at  the  same  time  it  would  enable  the  cru- 
saders to  sever  the  Eastern  Infidels  from  their  Saracen 
coreligionists  along  the  North  African  coast.  Egypt 
was  thus  chosen  as  the  immediate  destination  of  the 
crusade. 

Shortly  after  the  ratification  of  the  Venetian  com- 
pact with  the  crusaders,  Theobald  of  Champagne,  the 
chosen  commander,  died.  Boniface  of  Montferrat 
was  chosen  in  his  stead.  The  first  movement  of 
Boniface  is  suggestive  in  view  of  the  sequel.  He 
spent  several  months  at  the  court  of  PhiHp  of  Swabia, 
the  rival  of  Otho  for  the  German  throne.  Philip  had 
married  the  daughter  of  Isaac  Angelus,  a  deposed 
emperor  of  Constantinople,  who  had  been  blinded  by 
his  successor  and  was  now  a  captive.  A  son  of  Isaac, 
"  young  Alexius,"  as  he  was  called,  to  distinguish  him 
from  the  reigning  monarch  of  the  same  name,  a  lad 
of  twelve  years,  was  led  about  by  the  Emperor  Alex- 
ius to  grace  his  triumph.  Young  Alexius  eluded  the 
vigilance  of  his  keepers  and,  disguised  as  a  common 
sailor,  or,  as  some  say,  in  a  box  as  freight,  made  his 
way  to  Italy  and  eventually  to  the  court  of  his 
brother-in-law,  Philip  of  Swabia.  Philip  was  un- 
doubtedly pledged  by  his  own  interests,  as  well  as  by 
vengeance  on  behalf  of  his  kinsman,  to  forward  the 
project  of  young  Alexius  for  the  restoration  of  Isaac 
to  the  throne  of  Constantinople.  Boniface,  the  com- 
mander of  the  crusaders,  was  a  relative  of  Philip.  He 
had  also  family  alliances  with  the  throne  of  Con- 
stantinople.    One  of  his  brothers,  Conrad,  had  mar- 


liiduccuiCiit  to  Divert  Crusade.         259 

ried  Theodora,  a  sister  of  Isaac  ;  another,  Reynier,  had 
married  Maria,  a  daughter  of  the  Emperor  Manuel. 
As  the  heir  of  this  latter  brother,  Boniface  regarded 
himself  as  dc  jure  King  of  Salonica.  That  he  was 
not  averse  to  the  project  of  Philip  and  young  Alexius 
is  proved  by  the  fact  that  on  leaving  Philip  he  went 
to  Rome  and  endeavored  to  induce  the  Pope  to  de- 
clare himself  in  favor  of  young  Alexius  as  a  contes- 
tant for  the  throne  of  Constantinople  against  the 
reigning  monarch.  It  is  well  to  keep  these  facts  in 
mind  if  one  would  understand  the  depth  of  the  plot 
which  subsequent  events  exposed. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE    PLOT  FOR  THE   DIVERSION    OF  THE  CRUSADE 
— CAPTURE    OF   ZARA. 

HE  grand  departure  of  the  crusaders  from 
Venice  had  been  fixed  for  June,  1202. 
At  that  time  but  a  part  of  the  leaders  ap- 
peared. Some  had  taken  ship  from  Bari, 
Genoa,  and  even  the  ports  on  the  North- 
ern Ocean,  as  served  their  convenience  or  as  they 
were  able  to  make  better  terms  than  with  the  Vene- 
tians. Of  four  thousand  expected  knights,  but  one 
thousand  had  arrived  ;  of  one  hundred  thousand  men, 
less  than  sixty  thousand ;  of  the  eighty-five  thousand 
marks  pledged  for  passage,  but  thirty-four  thousand 
were  in  hand.  Dandolo  protested  against  this  as 
breach  of  faith  with  him,  and  pointed  to  his  fleet,  wait- 
ing, manned  and  provisioned,  in  the  harbor.  He  de- 
manded the  immediate  payment  of  the  entire  sum. 
In  vain  had  the  crusaders  sent  what  they  could  to 
the  ducal  palace — ^money,  vessels  of  silver  and  gold, 
jewels,  and  securities  on  their  lands.  The  doge 
declared,  according  to  Robert  de  Clari,  who  was  in 
this  army,  "  If  you  do  not  pay,  understand  well  that 
you  will  not  move  from  this  spot,  nor  will  you  find 

260 


Dandolo's  Treachery.  261 

any  one  who  will  furnish  you  with  meat  and  drink." 
The  crusading  army  thus  found  itself  a  crowd  of 
starving  prisoners  on  a  fever-fraught  island  near 
Venice.  In  the  heat  of  the  summer  many  sickened 
and  died  ;  others  managed  to  escape.  Those  who  re- 
mained communicated  with  friends  in  France  and  in- 
duced a  few  more  knights  and  nobles  to  join  them. 
But  with  this  assistance,  and  though  the  richest  of 
them  had  stripped  tiiemselves  of  possessions  until 
nothing  but  horses  and  armor  were  left,  the  debt  was 
unpaid. 

Having  gotten  from  them  all  that  was  possible, 
Dandolo  assumed  the  role  of  friendship  and  proposed 
to  forgive  the  remainder  of  their  obligation  upon  con- 
dition of  first  receiving  their  help  as  soldiers  in  an  ex- 
pedition against  Zara,  which  he  had  in  contemplation. 
The  city  of  Zara  was  Christian,  the  capital  of  Dal- 
matia,  a  province  of  Hungary,  and  just  across  the 
Adriatic  from  Venice.  It  was  rapidly  rising  into  the 
position  of  a  competitor  for  the  commerce  of  those 
waters,  and  thus  excited  the  greed  of  the  doge. 

But  a  richer  prize  than  Zara  was  before  the  ambi- 
tion of  the  Venetian  ruler.  From  the  beginning  of 
his  negotiations  with  the  crusaders  he  doubtless  con- 
templated the  diversion  of  these  forces,  though  col- 
lected in  the  name  of  religion,  to  the  conquest  of  the 
Greek  empire.  Documents  that  have  recently  come 
to  light  make  it  clear  that  Dandolo  had  no  purpose 
of  assisting  in  war  against  Egypt  and  Palestine,  but, 
in  collusion  with  Boniface  and  Philip  of  Swabia, 
planned  and  executed  one  of  the  most  marvellous 
schemes  of  perfidy  that  history  portrays. 


262  The  Foiwth  Crusade. 

As  the  basis  of  this  severe  judgment  we  must  be 
content  to  give  the  dates  of  certain  events. 

February  i,  1201,  commissioners  of  the  crusaders 
arrive  in  Venice,  asking  Dandolo's  assistance  with  the 
fleet. 

Autumn,  1201,  Dandolo  sends  agents  to  Malek- 
Ahdel,  of  Egypt,  proposing  a  settled  peace  with  him. 

May  13,  1202,  Dandolo  concludes  secret  treaty 
with  Malek-Ahdel,  in  accordance  with  which  the 
Venetians  are  to  have  favored  quarters  in  Alexandria 
for  trade,  and  all  pilgrims  to  Jerusalem  who  come 
under  Venetian  patronage  are  to  be  forwarded  with 
safety. 

June  24,  1202,  crusaders  arrive  in  Venice,  and 
Dandolo  refuses  to  provide  them  ships. 

July,  1202,  treaty  between  Dandolo  and  Malek- 
Ahdel  formally  ratified. 

With  these  layers  of  the  foundation  we  may  under- 
stand the  superstructure  of  after  events.  The  proposal 
to  attack  Zara  thus  appears  as  the  first  movement  in 
realizing  the  plot  to  divert  the  Christian  forces  from 
Egypt.  Vainly  did  the  noblest  of  the  crusaders  pro- 
test against  this  sacrilegious  use  of  arms  which  had 
been  consecrated  only  to  the  service  of  the  cross.  In 
vain  did  Pope  Innocent  denounce  it  with  his  divine 
authority.  Dandolo  relentlessly  pursued  his  advan- 
tage, and  with  such  consummate  tact  that  the  cardinal 
legate  of  the  Pope,  Peter  Capuano,  expressed  himself 
convinced  that  it  would  be  less  of  a  sin  to  take  part 
in  the  capture  of  Zara,  and  then  pursue  the  original 
object  of  the  crusade,  than  to  return  home  having 
done  nothing..     Dandolo  completed  the  delusion  he 


Fleet  Sails  against  Zara.  263 


was  practising  upon  the  people  by  allowing  himself 
to  be  led  up  the  pulpit  of  St.  Mark's  (August  25th) 
where  he  thus  addressed  the  Venetians:  "  I  am  old 
and  infirm;  as  you  see,  I  have  need  of  rest;  yet  I 
know  of  no  one  more  capable  of  taking  command  of 
your  undertaking  than  myself.      If  you  desire  it    I 
will  myself  take  the  cross  and  go  with  you  and  the 
pilgrims  for  life  and  death."     The  assembly  cried, 
••  Come  with  us  for  God's  sake ! "     Dandolo  was  then 
led  to  the  altar,  and,  while  his  agents  were  signing  the 
compact  with  the  Infidel,  knelt  amid  the  tears  and 
huzzas  of  his  people  to  have  the  cross  fastened  upon 
his  ducal  bonnet.    The  papal  legate  indeed  protested 
against  any  one  posing  as  the  head  of  the  armies 
summoned  by  the  Pope  who  did  not  acknowledge 
the  pontiflf's  leadership  through  his  representative,  but 
Dandolo  read  him  a  lesson  on  the  duty  of  ecclesiastics 
to  content  themselves  with  preaching  the  gospel  and 
setting  a  godly  example  to  the  flock. 

Villehardouin  narrates  at  this  point  "  a  great  won- 
der, an  unhoped-for  circumstance,  the  strangest  that 
ever  was  heard  of."  This  event  was  the  arrival  in 
Venice  of  the  ambassadors  of  young  Alexius,  asking 
in  the  name  of  justice  and  humanity  the  aid  of  the 
Venetians  in  the  liberation  of  his  father  and  the 
restoration  of  his  own  princely  rights  at  Constan- 
tinople. It  is  evident  that  Villehardouin's  surprise 
was  not  shared   by  either  Dandolo  or  Boniface  of 

Montferrat. 

October  8th  the  fleet  sailed  from  the  lagoons.  It 
consisted  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  ships.  It  was 
a  gala-day:   palaces  and  storehouses  were  covered 


264  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

with  brilliant  banners  and  streamers;  the  guilds 
rivalled  one  another  in  the  gorgeousness  of  their 
flags,  floats,  and  various  insignia.  The  ships  were 
arrayed  in  responsive  glory  as  one  by  one  they  glided 
out  to  sea.  About  the  bulwarks  of  each  vessel  were 
hung  the  polished  shields  of  the  knights  it  carried. 
The  doge's  galley  was  vermilion-hued,  the  color  of 
royalty.  The  sound  of  silver  trumpets  echoed  the 
lapping  of  the  waves  as  the  fleet  moved  out  upon  the 
Adriatic,  while  the  ancient  hymn,  "  Veni,  Creator 
Spiritus,"  was  chanted  by  priests  and  monks  from  the 
crosstrees  of  the  ships. 

Pausing  at  Trieste,  the  fleet  on  November  iith 
entered  and  captured  the  harbor  of  Zara.  The  citi- 
zens at  first  proposed  to  surrender  if  their  lives  should 
be  spared ;  but  later,  learning  of  the  Pope's  mandate 
forbidding  the  crusaders  to  attack  their  fellow- Chris- 
tians, and  assuming  that  it  would  suffice  for  their 
protection,  they  withdrew  the  offer.  Dandolo  ordered 
an  assault.  Many  of  the  crusaders  refused  to  obey 
his  order.  At  a  council  in  the  tent  of  the  doge,  the 
Abbot  of  Vaux  exclaimed,  "  I  forbid  you,  in  the  name 
of  the  Pope,  to  attack  this  city.  It  is  a  city  of  Chris- 
tian men,  and  you  are  soldiers  of  the  cross."  This 
bold  speech  nearly  cost  him  his  life.  Dandolo  braved 
the  threat  of  excommunication  and  assailed  the  walls. 
In  five  days  (November  24,  1202)  Zara  fell.  The 
people  were  pillaged,  many  were  banished,  some  be- 
headed, and  others  mercifully  allowed  to  flee,  leaving 
their  houses  and  goods  to  the  captors.  Dandolo  pro- 
posed to  divide  the  city  as  common  spoil  and  to  enjoy 
its  comforts  for  the  winter.     His  purpose  was  too  evi- 


Revolt  of  Crusaders.  265 

dent ;  it  was  to  take  time  to  effectually  establish  the 
Venetian  control  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Adriatic. 
The  crusaders  were  made  aware  tiiat  they  had  been 
used  as  cat's-paws  for  the  doge's  chestnuts.  To  dis- 
appointment succeeded  remorse.  They  began  to 
meditate  upon  the  papal  excommunication  they  had 
so  foolishly  provoked.  The  Venetians,  meanwhile, 
managed  to  get  the  larger  part  of  the  spoil,  and  the 
soldiers  were  often  suffering  while  their  allies  were 
feasting.  This  led  to  continual  fighting  in  the  streets, 
where  more  fell  than  had  been  slain  during  the  siege. 
The  more  valiant  longed  for  service  against  the  In- 
fidel, not  against  Christians ;  the  commoner  souls 
longed  for  home.  Desertions  took  place  in  bands  of 
hundreds  and  even  thousands.  The  French  leaders 
humbly  petitioned  the  Pope's  forgiveness.  It  was 
granted  on  condition  of  their  setting  out  for  Syria, 
"  without  turning  to  the  right  or  left."  The  Holy 
Father  pledged  them  his  care  if  they  immediately 
obeyed,  and  promised,  "  In  order  that  }'ou  may  not 
want  for  provisions,  we  will  write  to  the  Emperor  of 
Constantinople  to  furnish  them  ;  if  that  be  refused  it 
will  not  be  unjust  if,  after  the  example  of  many  holy 
persons,  you  take  provisions  wherever  you  may  find 
them."  This  permission  to  pillage  the  Pope  extenu- 
ates by  adding,  "  Provided  it  be  with  the  fear  of  God, 
without  doing  harm  to  any  person,  and  with  a  reso- 
lution to  make  restitution."  At  the  same  time  he 
argues  for  the  righteousness  of  taking  other's  goods 
without  their  permission :  "  For  it  will  be  known 
that  you  are  devoted  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  to  who;n 
all  the  world  belongs." 


260  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

This  papal  intervention  jeopardized  the  schemes 
of  the  Venetians ;  but,  very  opportunely  for  those 
opposed  to  the  Pope's  counsel,  there  arrived  at  Zara 
ambassadors  from  Philip  of  Swabia,  the  brother-in- 
law  of  young  Alexius.  In  their  address  they  said : 
"  We  do  not  come  for  the  purpose  of  turning  you 
aside  from  your  holy  enterprise,  but  to  offer  you  an 
easy  and  sure  means  of  accomplishing  your  noble 
designs.  .  .  .  We  propose  to  you  to  turn  your  vic- 
torious arms  towards  the  capital  of  Greece,  which 
groans  under  the  rod  of  a  usurper,  and  to  assure 
yourselves  forever  of  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem  by 
that  of  Constantinople.  .  .  .  We  will  not  tell  you 
how  easy  a  matter  it  would  be  to  wrest  the  empire 
from  the  hands  of  a  tyrant  hated  by  his  subjects; 
nor  will  we  spread  before  your  eyes  the  riches  of 
Byzantium  and  Greece.  ...  If  you  overturn  the 
power  of  the  usurper  in  order  that  the  legitimate 
sovereign  may  reign,  the  son  of  Isaac  [young  Alexius] 
promises,  under  the  faith  of  oaths  the  most  inviolable, 
to  maintain  during  a  year  both  your  fleet  and  your 
army,  and  to  pay  you  two  hundred  thousand  silver 
marks  towards  the  expenses  of  the  holy  war.  He 
will  accompany  you  in  person  in  the  conquest  of  Syria 
or  Egypt,  and  will  furnish  ten  thousand  men,  and 
maintain  during  his  whole  life  five  hundred  knights 
in  the  Holy  Land."  Then  followed  a  clause  which 
was  supposed  to  catch  the  consciences  of  the  most 
pious :  "  Alexius  is  willing  to  swear  on  the  holy 
Gospels  that  he  will  put  an  end  to  the  heresy  which 
now  defiles  the  Empire  of  the  East,  and  will  subject 
the  Greek  Church  to  the  Church  of  Rome." 


YoiDig  A  lexius  's  Prom  ises.  267 

The  proj)Osal  did  not  carry  to  all  conviction  of  its 
wisdom  and  justice.  The  Franks  had  reason  to  sus- 
pect the  gootl  faith  of  the  Greeks.  BHnd  Isaac, 
whom  they  were  called  upon  to  restore  to  his  throne, 
had  been  himself  a  usurper,  as  unjust  to  his  prede- 
cessor as  his  successor  had  been  to  him,  and,  more- 
over, had  done  everything  in  his  power  to  defeat  the 
previous  crusades.  But  the  Venetian  influence  pre- 
vailed. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

ON  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE — CAPTURE  OF  GALATA. 

HE  Venetians  and  crusaders  left  Zara  in 
ruins,  its  palaces  and  walls  razed  to  the 
ground.  They  sailed  for  Corfu.  Dan- 
dolo  and  Boniface  waited  five  days  until 
they  were  joined  by  young  Alexius. 
These  chiefs  paused  at  Durazzo,  where  the  inhabi- 
tants were  led  to  recognize  Alexius  as  the  lawful 
heir  to  the  sovereignty,  and  on  May  4,  1203,  they 
joined  the  army  before  Corfu. 

Here  there  was  developed  great  dissatisfaction 
among  the  soldiers  as  the  full  meaning  of  the  diver- 
sion of  the  crusade  burst  upon  them.  More  than 
half  the  army  rose  in  rebellion ;  they  held  their  par- 
Hament  of  protest;  the  leaders  were  gathered  in  a 
secluded  valley  preparatory  to  desertion.  It  seemed 
for  the  moment  that  conscience  and  piety,  fanned 
by  resentment,  would  triumph  over  chicanery  and 
deceit;  but  Dandolo  and  Boniface  were  equal  to  the- 
situation.  They  threw  themselves  at  the  feet  of  the 
malcontents,  shed  abundance  of  tears,  and  so  wrought 
upon  the  sympathies  of  the  multitude  that  they 
effected  a  compromise,  by  which  it  was  agreed  that 

268 


J'oyagc  to  Constantinople.  269 


the  army  should  hold  together  until  Michaelmas  and 
serve  Alexius's  project,  and  after  that  should  be 
carried  to  Syria. 

Dandolo  realized  that  there  was  no  security  for  his 
schemes  with  such  a  host,  except  by  their  quick  ac- 
complishment.     May  23d  the  harbor  of  Corfu  wit- 
nessed a  repetition  of  the  gala-scene  when  the  fleet 
left  Venice.      Far  as  the  eye  could  reach  the  sea  was 
colored  with  the  sails  of  the  invaders  of  a  Christian 
empire  in  the  name  of  Christ.     The  inhabitants  of 
the  islands  touched  by  the  voyagers,  impressed  with 
the   martial   might   thus    displayed,   threw  off  their 
allegiance  to  the  reigning  Alexius  and  waved  their 
banners  for  Alexius  the  Young.     The  natural  beau- 
ties of  the  ^gean,  the  riches  of  the  islands,  the  ac- 
quiescence of  the   people,   and    the   abundant   gifts 
from    fields   and   vineyards   that   loaded  the  vessels 
filled  all  hearts  with  enthusiasm.      By  the  shores  of 
ancient  Troy,    up   through   the   Dardanelles,   where 
they   lingered   a   week   to   ravage  the  harvest,  and 
then  over  the  wide  Marmora  they  sped  onward  as 
if    the   very   breezes   articulated    benedictions   from 
Heaven.    If  conscience  intruded,  its  mutterings  were 
silenced   with  the  thought,  "  After  this,  after  Con- 
stantinople, when  we  shall  have  been  sated  with  the 
spoil    of   the    heretic,    then    for   Jerusalem!"     This 
mingled  greed  and  piety  burst  into  huzzas  as  they 
sailed  by  the  beautiful  villas  which  lined  the  western 
shores  of  the  Marmora  or  watched  the  steadily  enlarg- 
ing roofs  and  gardens  of  Chalcedon  and  Scutari  on  the 
Asiatic  side,  until  the  domes  and  palaces  of  Constan- 
tinople, in  multitude  and  massiveness  beyond  any- 


270  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

thing  seen  elsewhere  in  Europe,  seemed  to  rise  and 
welcome  them. 

But  the  mighty  walls,  which  appeared  to  have 
been  erected  by  Titans  and  rivalled  the  hills  upon 
which  the  city  sat,  awakened  a  corresponding  fear 
lest  the  glory  they  witnessed  should  prove  beyond 
their  possession.  "  Be  sure,"  says  Villehardouin, 
"  there  was  not  a  man  who  did  not  tremble,  because 
never  was  so  great  an  enterprise  undertaken  by  so 
small  a  number  of  men." 

June  23d  the  fleet  came  to  anchor  off  the  Abbey 
of  San  Stefano,  twelve  miles  below  the  city.  Dan- 
dolo  determined  upon  a  reconnaissance  in  force  which 
should  also  strike  terror  into  the  Greeks  by  its  mag- 
nificent display.  All  the  standards  were  spread  to 
the  breeze.  The  sides  of  the  ships  were  sheathed  in 
glowing  shields.  The  warriors  of  the  West  stood  on 
the  deck,  each  one,  says  Nicetas,  the  Greek  eye-wit- 
ness, "  as  tall  as  his  spear."  Thus  they  glided  close 
under  the  walls  of  the  city,  upon  which  the  inhabi- 
tants crowded  to  witness  this  picturesque  prediction 
of  their  doom. 

Having  made  a  sufficiently  valiant  show,  the  fleet 
crossed  the  Bosporus  and  anchored  in  the  harbor  of 
Chalcedon.  Here  the  army  captured  the  harvests 
just  gathered  from  the  neighboring  country,  and  pil- 
laged Chalcedon,  while  the  leaders  occupied  the  pal- 
aces and  gardens,  upon  which  the  emperor  had  just 
expended  great  wealth  in  making  them  the  abode  of 
his  pleasure.  The  reigning  Alexius  deigned  to  send 
to  his  unwelcome  guests  a  body  of  troopers,  who 
were   driven  off   with  severe  chastisement  for  their 


Protest  of  tJic  Greek  EtJipcror.         271 

temerity.  He  then  addressed  them  through  Nicho- 
las Roux,  a  Lombard  retainer:  "  The  emperor  knows 
that  you  are  the  most  puissant  and  noble  of  all  those 
who  do  not  wear  the  crown ;  but  he  is  astonished  at 
your  invasion  of  a  Christian  state.  It  is  said  that 
you  have  come  to  deliver  the  Holy  Land  from  the 
Infidel.  The  emperor  applauds  your  zeal  and  begs 
to  assist  you.  If  you  are  needy  he  will  provision 
your  army  if  you  will  be  gone.  Do  not  think  this 
generous  ofTer  prompted  by  any  fear;  with  one  word 
the  emperor  could  gather  about  him  innumerable 
hosts,  disperse  your  fleet  and  armies,  and  forever 
close  against  you  the  routes  to  the  East." 

Conan  de  Bethune  made  response  for  the  Latins : 
"  Go  tell  your  master  that  the  earth  we  tread  upon 
does  not  belong  to  him,  but  is  the  heritage  of  the 
prince  you  see  seated  among  us,"  pointing  to  young 
Alexius.  "  A  usurper  is  the  enemy  of  all  princes;  a 
tyrant  is  the  foe  of  mankind.  Your  master  can  es- 
cape the  justice  of  God  and  men  only  by  restoring 
his  brother  and  nephew  to  the  throne." 

Dandolo  then  tried  the  spirit  of  the  people  of 
Constantinople.  A  splendid  galley  bearing  young 
Alexius  moved  close  along  the  walls  of  the  city. 
Boniface  and  the  doge  supported  the  prince  on  their 
arms,  while  a  herald  proclaimed,  "  Behold  the  heir 
of  your  throne!"  This  met  with  no  response  save 
the  derisive  shout,  "Who  is  this  Alexius?"  But 
the  defiance  hurled  by  the  Greeks  from  the  safety  of 
their  walls  was  not  the  voice  of  universal  courage. 
Nicetas  tells  us  that  "  the  Greek  commanders  were 
more  timid  than  deer,  and  did  not  dare  to  resist  men 


272  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

whom  they  called  '  exterminating  angels,  statues  of 
bronze,  which  spread  around  terror  and  death.'  " 

The  next  day  at  Scutari  the  leaders,  according  to 
their  custom,  held  council  of  war  in  the  saddle  in  the 
presence  of  their  waiting  troops.  An  instant  assault 
was  determined  upon.  After  due  religious  solemni- 
ties they  embarked.  The  war-horses,  heavily  capar- 
isoned for  battle,  with  their  knights  in  armor  at  their 
sides,  were  put  upon  htnssiers,  or  flat-bottomed  boats 
constructed  with  wide  gangways  across  which  a  num- 
ber could  quickly  dash  from  ship  to  shore.  The  rank 
and  file  were  packed  into  larger  vessels.  The  fight- 
ing galleys  were  trimmed  for  action,  and  each  took 
in  tow  a  huissier.  Much  depended  upon  the  celerity 
of  the  crossing  and  the  surprise  of  the  Greeks,  since 
the  swift  current  of  the  Bosporus  might  quickly  in- 
gulf them  in  the  terrible  Greek  fire  if  the  combustible 
material  should  be  spread  upon  the  water.  At  sound 
of  trumpet  the  Venetian  rowers  sprang  to  the  oars; 
the  narrow  Bosporus  suddenly  foamed  with  the  im- 
pact of  hundreds  of  prows.  No  order  was  observed, 
except  that  the  crossbowmen  and  archers  led  the  van 
to  drive  the  enemy  from  the  landing-places.  The 
ships  struck  the  shore  probably  near  the  modern 
Tophana,  north  of  the  Golden  Horn.  The  Greek 
soldiers  could  not  withstand  the  showers  of  arrows 
that  swept  the  open  places,  and  precipitately  fled. 
The  knights  leaped  their  horses  into  the  water  and 
prevented  the  enemy's  return  to  attack.  Within  an 
hour  the  open  camp  of  the  Greeks  was  in  possession 
of  the  Latins.  The  harbor  of  the  Golden  Horn  had 
been  closed  with  a  chain,  behind  which  the   Greek 


Capture  of  the  Golden  llorfi.  273 

fleet  lay  in  apparent  immunity  from  attack  by  the 
Venetian  galleys.  The  northern  end  of  this  chain 
was  fastened  within  the  strong  tower  of  GaJata. 
That  fortress  was  quickly  carried  and  the  chain  re- 
leased, but  not  until  the  Venetian  ship,  the  Eagle, 
with  its  tremendous  ram  armed  with  enormous  shears 
of  steel,  had  already  severed  it  midway.  The  Latin 
galleys  swept  in,  sinking  or  capturing  the  entire 
Greek  fleet. 

The  marine  defence  of  Constantinople,  which  might 
with  ordinary  foresight  have  been  made  resistless, 
was  inconsiderable.  The  demoralization  of  the  Greek 
service  was  pitiable.  Admirals  had  sold  the  very 
sails  for  their  own  private  gain.  Useless  masts  had 
not  been  replaced,  though  the  near  forests  abounded 
in  timber;  for  the  trees,  as  Nicetas  tells  us,  were 
guarded  by  the  eunuchs  like  groves  of  worship,  but 
really  as  hunting-preserves  for  the  pleasure  of  the 
court. 

The  victory  of  the  Latin  fleet  left  Galata  their  easy 
prey,  and  gave  them  a  near  basis  from  which  to  con- 
duct operations  against  the  city  across  the  Golden 
Horn. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

CONSTANTINOPLE   SECURED   TO   ISAAC  AND  YOUNG 
ALEXIUS — USURPATION    OF    MOURTZOUPHLOS. 

OUR  days  were  spent  in  bringing  over 
from  the  Asiatic  side  the  provisions. 
Dandolo  proposed  to  transport  all  the 
soldiers  with  his  fleet  and  assault  the 
water  wall  of  the  city,  where,  presuming 
upon  the  defence  of  their  ships,  the  Greeks  had  left 
the  fortifications  weakest.  But  the  crusaders,  accus- 
tomed only,  to  land  operations,  w^ere  averse  to  this 
plan  and  marched  around  the  end  of  the  Golden  Horn. 
The  fleet  met  them  opposite  the  palace  of  Blachern, 
which  occupied  the  corner  of  the  northwestern  wall 
and  thus  faced  both  land  and  sea.  Though  the  walls 
extended  for  seven  miles,  this  spot  was  regarded  as 
the  strongest  of  all.  A  wide  moat  was  backed  by 
three  enormous  lines  of  masonry,  to  capture  one  of 
which  was  only  to  lodge  beneath  the  terrible  menace 
of  the  others.  Immense  towers  were  so  close  to- 
gether that  to  pass  between  them  would  be  to  chal- 
lenge burial  beneath  the  missiles  which  could  readily 
be  dropped  from  almost  above  their  heads.  Here 
twice  within  the  preceding  half- century  the  Greeks 

274 


Assault  upon  the  City.  275 


had  discomfited  the  Arab  hosts.  At  this  point  the 
Turks,  under  Mohammed  II.,  were,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  later,  to  make  their  victorious  assault.  The 
Greeks  within  the  city  were  assisted  by  armies  with- 
out, which,  under  Theodore  Lascaris,  the  hero  of  the 
day  on  the  part  of  the  besieged,  assailed  the  camps 
of  the  crusaders. 

July  17th  witnessed  the  grand  assault.  Boniface 
and  Baldwin  were  in  command.  The  battering-rams 
delivered  their  blows  until  one  tower  fell.  Platform- 
ladders  were  quickly  reared;  fifteen  Flemings  se- 
cured a  footing  on  the  outer  wall,  but  were  slain  or 
captured  by  men  of  their  own  blood,  the  hired  War- 
ing guard.  The  Venetians'  attack  was  more  suc- 
cessful ;  their  ships  were  covered  with  rawhides  to 
protect  them  from  the  Greek  fire,  which  flashed  like 
liquid  lightning  from  the  walls  above  and  spread  in 
sheets  of  flame  over  the  water.  Bridges  had  been 
arranged  from  the  crosstrees,  which,  as  the  vessels 
were  anchored  close  to  the  shore,  reached  to  the  top 
of  the  walls.  Every  huissier  carried  a  mangonel, 
which  returned  the  stones  hurled  by  the  besieged. 

The  battle  being  contested  thus  far  with  equal 
skill,  Dandolo  gave  orders  to  land  ;  he  himself  set  the 
example.  Old  and  blind,  he  was  carried  in  the  arms 
of  his  attendants,  and,  with  the  banner  of  St.  Mark 
floating  above  him,  placed  upon  the  shore.  His 
heroism  inspired  his  men.  While  the  fight  raged 
above  their  heads,  on  the  bridges  that  ran  from  the 
rigging  to  the  walls,  the  host  below  erected  their 
scaling-ladders  and  emerged  upon  the  parapets 
Soon  the  gonfalon  of  St.  Mark  floated  from  a  cap- 


276  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

tured  tower.  Twenty-five  more  of  these  strongholds 
were  quickly  taken.  The  Venetians  poured  down 
through  the  streets  of  the  city.  Setting  fire  to  the 
buildings,  their  progress  was  led  by  a  vanguard  of 
flame. 

In  this  terrible  emergency  the  emperor  was  caught 
by  a  momentary  impulse  of  valor,  and,  putting  him- 
self at  the  head  of  sixty  battalions,  sallied  from  the 
city  to  strike  the  crusaders.  The  multitude  of  his 
men,  their  splendid  accoutrements,  and  their  unan- 
ticipated appearance  led  the  crusaders  to  leave  their 
assault  upon  the  ramparts  and  range  for  defence  be- 
hind their  palisades.  A  more  serious  consequence 
of  this  valiant  counter-attack  was  that  it  forced  Dan- 
dolo  to  leave  what  he  had  already  conquered  and 
hasten  to  the  assistance  of  his  allies.  But  the  Greeks 
had  exhausted  their  fury  in  its  first  outburst,  and 
made  no  further  onset,  contenting  themselves  with 
showering  arrows  from  safe  distance.  Theodore 
Lascaris,  the  son-in-law  of  the  emperor,  in  vain  asked 
the  imperial  permission  to  assail  the  crusaders'  in- 
trenchments.  Alexius  III.  was  content  with  the 
martial  glory  of  having  paraded  before  his  foe ;  his 
troops,  carrying  the  eagles  of  ancient  Rome,  as  if  the 
more  to  emphasize  their  shame,  retreated  without 
having  struck  a  blow  with  the  naked  sword. 

The  next  morning  (July  18,  1203)  the  city  was 
filled  with  a  deeper  sense  of  disgrace  as  the  people 
learned  that  the  emperor  himself  had  stolen  away 
during  the  night,  taking  with  him  a  bag  of  gold  and 
jewels,  leaving  his  empire  to  him  who  could  hold  it, 
and  his  wife  amid  the  spoil.    Alexius  III.  was  a  des- 


Flight  of  A  lexius — Isaac  Restored.     277 


picable  character,  as  cowardly  as  he  was  cruel,  crafty, 
but  without  will  power  to  sustain  his  own  designs 
when  they  exacted  much  energy.  His  natural 
weaknesses  had  been  increased  by  the  habits  of  a 
voluptuary  and  drunkard  until  he  had  become  but  a 
crowned  imbecile. 

Realizing  the  condition  of  affairs,  the  troops,  led 
by  Constantine,  the  minister  of  finance,  raised  the 
cry  for  the  deposed  Isaac.  The  courtiers  ran  to  his 
prison  in  the  vaults  of  the  Blachern,  broke  off  his 
chains,  and  led  the  old  and  blinded  man  out,  as  he, 
having  become  hopeless  of  relief,  believed,  to  execu- 
tion, but,  to  his  grateful  surprise,  to  be  seated  again 
upon  his  throne.  The  wife  of  Isaac  was  sought  out 
in  an  obscure  quarter  of  tiie  cit}',  where  she  was  liv- 
ing, grateful  for  e\'en  life  ;  while  the  wife  of  the  fugi- 
tive Alexius  III.  was  thrust  into  a  dungeon. 

The  recall  of  their  former  emperor  could  scarcely 
have  been  prompted  by  affection  or  even  respect  for 
him  personally.  Isaac  was  without  character.  Buf- 
foons despised  him  for  allowing  himself  to  be  the 
chief  court  fool.  His  ambition  was  divided  between 
his  sensuality  and  his  extravagance ;  he  had  twenty 
thousand  eunuchs,  and  spent  four  million  pounds 
sterling  on  the  housekeeping  of  his  palace.  His  piety 
seems  to  have  been  limited  to  a  belief  in  the  predic- 
tion of  a  flattering  patriarch,  who  had  once  assured 
him  of  an  indefinite  conquest  of  the  world,  for  which, 
however,  he  made  no  preparation  other  than  invok- 
ing an  alliance  with  Saladin,  whose  sword  he  would 
buy  to  hew  down  his  Christian  opponents. 

The  news  of  the  change  of  emperors  was  not  as- 


2  yS  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

suring  to  the  leaders  of  the  Latins.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  pretence  of  having  come  to  right  the  wrongs 
of  Isaac,  their  plans  necessitated  either  their  own 
occupancy  of  the  empire  or  the  placing  of  young 
Alexius  as  the  creature  of  their  will  upon  the  throne. 
Alexius,  not  Isaac,  had  made  the  bargain  to  pay  the 
Westerners  for  their  expedition  two  hundred  thou- 
sand marks  of  silver,  to  furnish  the  army  and  fleet 
with  provision  for  a  year,  and  to  bring  the  Greek 
Church  into  subjection  to  Rome.  Would  Isaac  as- 
sume the  same  obligations? 

The  Latins  sent  a  deputation  to  the  palace ;  they 
passed  between  the  lines  of  the  same  hired  soldiers 
that  yesterday  guarded  Alexius  III.,  equally  loyal 
to  whatever  hand  fed  them.  There,  upon  a  throne 
of  superlative  splendor,  the  Latin  deputies  saw  the 
resurrected  relic  of  a  former  monarch,  blind  and 
emaciated.  To  have  rendered  the  picture  sensa- 
tionally complete,  old  and  blind  Dandolo  should  have 
stood  before  Isaac. 

Villehardouin,  who  was  one  of  the  deputies,  de- 
manded of  Isaac  the  confirmation  of  the  contract 
made  by  young  Alexius.  On  learning  its  nature, 
Isaac  expressed  his  amazement  and  the  impossibility 
of  meeting  it.  The  deputies  assured  the  old  man 
that  his  son  should  never  be  permitted  to  enter  the 
city  unless  his  father  assumed  his  pledges.  The 
emperor  replied,  "  Surely  the  bargain  is  a  hard  one, 
and  I  cannot  see  how  to  carry  it  out ;  but  you  have 
done  so  much  for  him  and  me  that  you  deserve  our 
whole  empire."  With  hand  trembling  with  age  and 
fright  he  set  to  the  compact  the  golden  seal. 


Young  ^Uexius  Coenipcivr.  279 

The  deputies  returned  to  the  camp.  Young  Alexius 
entered  the  city,  ridini,^  with  a  retinue  of  knights, 
between  Dandolo  and  Baldwin  of  Flanders,  and 
followed  by  the  Latin  clergy ;  they  were  met  at  the 
gates  by  the  various  ranks  of  Greek  ecclesiastics,  ar- 
rayed in  splendid  vestments.  The  churches  through- 
out the  city  resounded  with  thanksgiving  and  the 
streets  with  festivity,  while  within  the  palace  Isaac, 
having  endured  a  dungeon  for  eight  years,  embraced 
his  son  whom  he  could  not  see. 

August  1st  Alexius  was  crowned  coemperor  in  St. 
Sophia ;  he  immediately  cancelled  a  portion  of  his 
indebtedness  to  his  allies,  and  wrote  to  the  Pope, 
avowing  his  purpose  to  recognize  Rome  as  the  ec- 
clesiastical head  of  the  Greek  empire.  The  Pope, 
knowing  the  vicissitude  of  affairs  and  distrusting  the 
volatile  disposition  of  the  youth,  replied,  urging  him 
to  speedily  practicalize  his  good  intention.  At  the 
same  time  the  Holy  Father  addressed  the  crusaders, 
declaring  that,  "unless  the  emperor  made  haste  to  do 
what  he  had  promised,  it  would  appear  that  neither 
his  protestations  nor  their  inten  ions  were  sincere." 

The  payment  Alexius  was  able  to  make  to  those 
who  had  sold  themselves  to  his  service  was  not  suffi- 
cient to  satisfy  their  ambitious  greed ;  it  barely  suf- 
ficed to  pay  back  to  each  soldier  the  money  he  had 
been  compelled  to  cash  down  to  the  Venetians  for  his 
passage,  and  which  had  left  the  Latin  army  bankrupt 
in  a  foreign  land.  But  the  Greek  treasury  was  empty 
and  could  not  meet  the  expenses  of  the  new  govern- 
ment, nor  even  provide  for  the  personal  protection  of 
the  emperors  against  their  domestic  foes. 


28o  The  Fourth  Crusade. 


If  the  adherents  of  the  fugitive  Alexius  III.  were 
not  to  be  feared,  there  were  new  aspirants  to  the 
throne,  which  had  come  to  be  recognized  as  the  legit- 
imate spoil  of  usurpers ;  besides,  the  emperor's  pledge 
to  recognize  the  Pope's  supremacy  had  kindled  fury 
in  the  breasts  of  the  Greek  devotees.  The  monk  was 
accustomed  in  those  days  to  finger  his  dagger  as  well 
as  his  beads.  The  Waring  guard  could  alone  be 
trusted,  but  their  loyalty  would  lapse  at  the  first  pass- 
ing of  a  pay-day.  Some  men  are  stimulated  by  ne- 
cessity— hardship  evokes  their  genius  ;  but  the  Latins 
knew  that  Alexius  was  not  of  this  sort.  Scarcely  out 
of  boyhood,  he  was  already  displaying  the  vices  and 
weaknesses  for  which  his  race  was  notorious.  He 
needed  a  guardian — a  Dandolo  or  Boniface,  or  both. 

It  was  therefore  evident  that  if  the  new  regime 
were  not  to  be  an  immediate  failure,  carrying  down 
with  it  the  honor  of  the  Latins,  the  latter  must  con- 
tinue at  Constantinople  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
agreement  between  the  Venetians  and  the  army  ex- 
pired at  Michaelmas.  They  were  forced  to  accept 
Alexius's  proposition  that  they  should  remain  with 
him  for  another  year.  Thus  circumstances  conspired 
to  favor  Dandolo  in  his  compact  with  Malek-Ahdel 
and  to  check  the  impatience  of  the  crusaders  for  a 
march  upon  Syria  or  Egypt. 

The  reign  of  Alexius  and  Isaac  was  inaugurated 
by  a  terrible  calamity.  According  to  long  custom, 
the  Arab  and  other  Moslem  traders  had  been  allowed 
to  occupy  a  section  of  the  city  with  their  bazaars  and 
mosque.  The  crusading  zeal,  baffled  of  finding  its 
natural  vent  in  Palestine,  sought  a  slight  compensa- 


Great  Fire — Mourtzoiiphlos.  281 

tion  in  looting  this  smaller  nest  of  Infidels.  During 
the  fighting  that  ensued  fire  was  started  in  several 
places.  Under  a  strong  north  wind  it  swept  in  a 
wide  swath  across  the  city  ;  then,  the  breeze  shifting, 
the  conflagration  raged  in  another  direction.  For 
eight  days  there  was  a  continual  crash  of  falling 
houses,  palaces,  and  churches,  thousands  of  the  home- 
less population  fleeing  through  smoke  and  cinders 
from  the  pursuing  flames.  Many  perished,  and  at  the 
cessation  of  the  ravages  multitudes  were  left  in  utter 
destitution.  The  blackened  ruins  covered  a  section 
half  a  league  in  width  and  two  leagues  in  length,  ex- 
tending from  the  Golden  Horn  to  the  Marmora. 

The  fury  of  the  elements  was  followed  by  as  de- 
structive a  fury  of  human  passions.  The  Greek  rose 
to  exterminate  the  Latin  resident  population.  All 
were  driven  out.  Fifteen  thousand  of  these  so- 
journers escaped  across  the  harbor  to  Galata,  that 
tiieir  lives  might  be  saved  in  the  camp  of  the  cru- 
saders. 

This  disaster  rendered  hopeless  any  further  pay- 
ment of  the  debt  pledged  by  Alexius.  The  cru- 
saders took  ad\-antage  of  the  situation  to  inaugurate 
a  plan  to  capture  the  city  for  themselves,  to  depose 
both  emperors,  and  seat  upon  the  throne  one  of  their 
own  number.  It  was  first  necessary  to  provoke  a 
formal  breach  with  Alexius  and  Isaac.  A  deputa- 
tion was  tlierefore  sent  them  to  demand  instant  pay- 
ment or  war.  The  Greek  populace  resented  this 
insult  to  their  rulers,  whose  office  they  worshipped 
even  if  they  had  contempt  for  their  pusillanimity. 
They  retahated  upon  the  Westerners  by  attempting 


282  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

to  burn  the  Venetian  fleet  with  fire-boats  floated 
among  the  ships,  and  trying  to  destroy  the  crusaders* 
camp  by  a  sudden  cavalry  attack. 

A  more  serious  menace  was  in  the  popular  meet- 
ings held  daily  in  St.  Sophia  to  denounce  the  em- 
perors and  to  demand  their  displacement  to  make 
way  for  some  stronger  hand.  The  leader  of  this 
movement  was  Alexius  Ducas,  called  Mourtzouphlos 
because  of  his  meeting  eyebrows.  The  populace, 
with  whom  this  man  was  unsavory,  offered  the  crown 
to  Nicholas  Kanabos.  Alexius  was  kept  a  virtual 
prisoner  in  the  Blachern,  defended  by  his  Warings. 
Mourtzouphlos  came  to  the  palace,  and,  persuading 
Alexius  that  a  mob  was  about  to  attack  him,  pre- 
tended to  conduct  him  to  a  place  of  safety.  Getting 
him  thus  to  his  own  tent,  Mourtzouphlos  put  the 
young  man  in  irons,  shod  himself  with  the  vermilion 
buskins,  and  strode  out,  proclaiming  that  he  was 
emperor. 

With  vast  energy  the  usurper  set  about  refortify- 
ing  the  city.  He  impressed  Dandolo  and  Boniface 
with  the  fact  that  they  had  now  to  deal  with  a  man 
not  unlike  themselves  in  ability  and  daring.  What 
they  were  to  do  must  be  done  quickly.  They  made 
to  Mourtzouphlos  the  proposition,  "  Give  us  Alexius, 
and  we  will  depart  and  allow  you  to  remain  emperor." 
With  this  prince  in  their  hands  they  could  still  scheme. 
The  reply  came,  "Alexius  is  dead."  He  had  been 
found  lifeless  in  his  chamber  (February  i,  1204). 
Isaac  soon  followed  his  son  with  as  mysterious  a 
taking  off.  Dandolo  then  proposed  a  personal  in- 
terview with  the  new  monarch.     The  meeting  was 


LatiJis  Attempt  the  Sovcrci<^uty:      283 


held  a  half-mile  beyond  the  palace.  Treacherously 
a  squad  of  Latin  horsemen  raided  the  place  of  con- 
ference, capturing  some  of  the  imperial  body-guard, 
but  Mourtzouphlos  escaped. 

Nothing  now  remained  for  the  Latins  but  to  risk 
all  in  an  assault  upon  the  city. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

CAPTURE    OF    CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Y  April  8th  all  preparations  were  com- 
pleted. It  was  determined  to  boldly 
cross  the  Golden  Horn  from  Galata  and 
assail  the  water  front  of  the  city.  At  a 
hundred  points  at  once  they  flung  the 
bridges  from  the  yard-arms  to  the  top  of  the  wall, 
while  at  the  same  time  they  battered  the  base  with 
rams.  The  air  about  them  was  a  firmament  of  flame 
from  the  heavy  discharges  of  Greek  fire,  through 
which  hurtled  stones,  javelins,  and  arrows  in  such 
storm  that  flesh  could  not  stand  against  it.  At  night 
the  Latins  retired,  confessing  the  failure  of  the  first 
attempt.  The  churches  of  the  city  resounded  with 
grateful  prayers,  and  the  streets  were  riotous  with 
joy. 

On  the  1 2th  the  assault  was  renewed.  The  ships 
now  fought  in  pairs,  so  that  a  heavier  force  of  men 
might  land  upon  the  walls  from  each  drawbridge. 
Two  transports,  the  Pilgrivi  and  the  Paradise,  hav- 
ing on  board  the  bishops  of  Troyes  and  Soissons, 
carried  one  of  the  towers  and  planted  there  the  ban- 
ners of  these  ecclesiastics.     Soon  four  towers  more 

284 


Fall  of  Constantinople.  285 

succumbed  ;  the  gates  beneath  them  were  forced  open, 
and  the  knights,  who  had  waited  by  their  horses  on 
the  transports,  dashed  into  the  city.  The  Venetians 
say  that  their  bhnd  old  hero  was  among  the  first  to 
pass  the  gates,  and  that  there  was  fulfilled  the 
prophecy  of  an  ancient  sibyl :  "  A  gathering  together 
of  the  powerful  shall  be  made  amid  the  waves  of  the 
Adriatic  under  a  blind  leader;  they  shall  beset  the 
goat  [the  symbol  of  Greek  power  in  Daniel's  vi- 
sion], .  .  .  they  shall  profane  Byzantium,  .  .  .  they 
shall  blacken  her  buildings ;  .  .  .  her  spoils  shall  be 
dispersed."  The  Latins  charged  straight  for  Mourt- 
zouphlos's  headquarters  ;  his  body-guard  fought  well, 
but  were  no  match  for  the  heavy-armored  knights* 
and  soon  fled.  Such  was  the  consternation  of  the 
Greeks  that  even  the  size  of  the  Latins  was  fabu- 
lously exaggerated,  Nicetas  crediting  one  gigantic 
soldier  with  eighteen  yards  to  his  stature,  and  a  pro- 
portionate strength. 

At  night  the  crusaders,  having  set  fire  to  the 
houses  on  every  side  of  them,  occupied  the  deserted 
camps  of  the  emperor,  which  he  had  set  up  in  the 
district  burned  by  the  previous  conflagration.  The 
next  day  they  encountered  no  opposition,  as  Mourt- 
zouphlos  had  fled  away  through  the  Golden  Gate  on 
the  Marmora  side  of  the  city.  With  the  exception 
of  the  imperial  treasury  and  arsenal,  all  was  given  up 
to  be  plundered  by  sailors  and  soldiers.  Before  the 
assault  the  barons  had  divided  among  themselves  the 
palaces.  Villehardouin  boastfully  narrates:  "Never 
since  the  world  was  created  was  there  so  much  booty 
gained  in  one  city  ;  each  man  took  the  house  which 


286  The  Fourth  Crusade, 

pleased  him,  and  there  was  enough  for  all.  Those 
who  were  poor  found  themselves  suddenly  rich. 
There  was  captured  an  immense  supply  of  gold  and 
silver,  of  plate  and  precious  stones,  of  satins  and  silks, 
of  furs,  and  of  every  kind  of  wealth  found  upon 
earth." 

The  Greek  eye-witnesses  give  the  same  picture, 
but  in  other  colors.  They  tell  how  neither  matron 
nor  nun,  age  nor  condition,  home  nor  church,  was 
safe  from  brigandage ;  nor  yet  the  tombs  of  the  dead, 
since  the  coffins  of  the  ancient  emiperors  were  opened, 
that  the  gems  might  be  taken  from  their  wrappings 
and  golden  rings  from  their  finger-bones.  The  body 
of  Justinian  was  thus  rudely  exposed  after  its  sleep 
of  centuries.  The  sacred  chalices  of  the  communion- 
table were  distributed  to  the  crowd  for  drinking-cups. 
The  vessels  of  the  altar  were  thrown  into  heaps,  to- 
gether with  the  table  plate  of  the  rich,  to  be  parcelled 
out  among  the  victors.  Holy  vestments  were  used 
as  saddle-cloths.  Mules  were  driven  into  St.  Sophia 
and  there  on  the  mosaic  floors  were  loaded  with  the 
furniture  which  piety  had  adored  and  art  had  cher- 
ished for  ages.  The  altars  were  broken  into  pieces, 
that  the  bits  of  precious  metal  in  them  might  be  ex- 
tracted, and  the  veil  of  the  sanctuary  was  torn  into 
.shreds  for  the  sake  of  its  golden  fringe.  A  slattern 
courtesan  was  enthroned  in  the  chair  of  the  patri- 
arch and  entertained  the  rabble  with  obscene  dances 
and  songs,  while  men  who  had  left  their  homes  for 
the  service  of  Christ  played  at  dice  upon  the  tables 
which  represented  His  apostles. 

Nicetas,  the  historian,  describes  his  own  escape. 


Plunder  of  the  City — Nicetas.          287 

A  Venetian,  whom  he  had  served  a  good  turn,  de- 
fended his  house  as  long  as  he  could.  When  this 
was  no  longer  possible  he  led  away  the  unfortunate 
family  and  a  few  friends,  roughly  treating  them  as  if 
they  were  his  prisoners.  The  young  ladies  of  Nice- 
tas's  household  blackened  their  faces  to  mar  their 
fairness.  The  beauty  of  one  shone  through  this  dis- 
guise ;  she  was  seized  by  some  passing  soldiers  and 
liberated  only  at  the  tearful  solicitation  of  her  father. 
Looking  back  upon  the  city,  of  which  he  had  been 
a  chief  ornament  and  whose  epitaph  he  was  to  write, 
Nicetas  exclaimed,  "  Queen  of  cities,  who  art  become 
the  sport  of  strangers,  the  companions  of  the  wild 
beasts  that  inhabit  tiie  forests,  we  shall  never  revisit 
thy  august  domes,  and  can  only  fly  with  terror  around 
thee,  like  sparrows  around  the  spot  where  their  nest 
has  been  destroyed."  On  the  road  he  came  up  with 
the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  without  bag  or 
money,  stick  or  shoes,  and  with  but  "  one  coat,  like 
a  true  apostle." 

The  plunder  of  the  city  was  evenly  divided  between 
the  crusaders  and  the  Venetians.  The  hard  cash 
discovered  in  treasure  vaults  or  concealed  in  wells 
amounted  in  value  to  over  eight  millions  of  dollars. 
The  value  of  movable  wealth  of  various  kinds  has 
been  estimated  at  one  hundred  millions. 

The  greed  thus  fed,  but  not  satiated,  seemed  to 
turn  the  brains  of  the  conquerors  and  to  transform 
them  into  veritable  barbarians,  as  the  Greeks  de- 
nominated them.  Works  of  art  were  ruthlessly 
destroyed,  bronze  statues  were  melted  for  the  sake 
of  their   metal,  and    rarest   marbles   broken   in   the 


The  Fourth  Crusade. 


abandon  of  resuscitated  savagery.  Thus  perished 
the  colossal  figure  of  Juno  from  Samos,  so  large  that 
it  required  four  oxen  to  carry  away  its  head ;  the 
statue  of  Paris  presenting  the  apple  of  discord  to 
Venus ;  the  famous  obelisk  surmounted  by  a  female 
figure  that  turned  with  the  wind,  and  covered  with 
exquisite  bas-reliefs ;  the  equestrian  statue  of  Pega- 
sus;  the  "  Hercules  "  of  Lysippus,  whose  thumb  was 
the  size  of  a  living  man's  waist ;  the  bronze  ass  which 
Augustus  Caesar  had  ordered  to  commemorate  the 
victory  of  Antium ;  the  ancient  group  of  the  wolf 
suckling  Romulus  and  Remus ;  and  the  statue  of 
Helen  of  Troy.  Out  of  the  ruin  of  such  inestimable 
treasures  of  art  the  four  horses  which  now  adorn  the 
porticos  of  St.  Mark's  in  Venice  were  saved  from  the 
general  wreck,  to  stand  as  a  monument  among  the 
Venetians  not  of  the  glory,  but  of  the  vandalism  of 
their  ancestors. 

But  more  than  the  spoils  of  art  and  treasure,  the 
sacred  relics  stored  in  Constantinople  excited  the 
saintly  cupidity  of  the  conquerors.  In  their  greed 
for  these  objects  men  utterly  forgot  the  divine  law, 
and  silenced  the  last  remonstrance  of  human  con- 
science. Martin  Litz,  Abbot  of  Basel,  worming  his 
way  through  the  pillage  piles  in  a  church,  came  upon 
an  old  Greek  monk  at  prayer.  "  Your  relics  or  your 
life!"  was  the  alternative  offered  him.  Martin  thus 
procured  the  key  to  an  iron  safe  and  rifled  it  of  bones 
and  jewels,  without  thought  that  the  eighth  com- 
mandment held  good  as  between  a  Romanist  and 
heretics.  Gunther,  a  German  monk,  telling  the  story 
of  what  he  witnessed  at  this  time,  rejoices  that  thus 


Relics  Stoleti.  289 


was  secured  a  piece  of  the  True  Cross,  the  skeleton 
of  John  the  l^aptist,  and  an  arm  of  St.  James.  As 
the  transportation  of  these  articles  to  the  West  was 
accomplished  without  their  having  been  again  stolen 
by  some  shrewder  saint  or  sunk  to  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  Gunthcr  believed  that  they  had  been  watched 
over  by  angels  especially  sent  from  heaven  to  convoy 
the  treasure.  It  would  seem  that  some  ghostly  in- 
tervention must  have  restrained  John  the  Baptist  and 
St.  James  from  visiting  their  wrath  upon  these  un- 
conscionable robbers  of  their  bones.  The  abbey  of 
Cluny  received  thus  the  head  of  St.  Clement;  the 
cathedral  of  Amiens  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist ; 
and  the  various  churches  of  Europe  such  articles  as 
Jacob's  pillow  at  Bethel,  the  rod  of  Moses,  the  wood 
of  the  True  Cross,  the  drops  of  blood  shed  in  Geth- 
semane,  the  sponge  and  reed  of  Cah-ary,  the  first 
tooth  and  locks  of  the  infant  Jesus,  a  piece  of  the 
bread  of  the  Last  Supper,  a  tear  of  our  Lord,  a  thorn 
from  His  crown,  the  finger  which  Thomas  thrust  into 
His  side,  the  shirt  and  girdle  of  the  Virgin  Mary. 
But  these  did  not  satisfy  the  relic-hunters.  Churches 
in  Europe  competed  with  one  another  for  the  objects 
of  adoration,  which  brought  revenue  to  their  coffers; 
prices  went  up,  but  Byzantine  craft  was  able  to  make 
the  supply  equal  the  demand.  A  few  years  later 
(1215)  the  Lateran  Council  had,  in  the  name  of  com- 
mon sense,  to  caution  the  faithful  against  becoming 
the  prey  of  their  own  credulity. 

Even  the  enormous  aggrandizement  of  the  Latins, 
and  the  advantages  to  be  derived,  in  the  estimate  of 
Western  piety,   from  the  union   of   the  Greek  and 


290  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

Roman  churches,  could  not  subdue  the  general  sense 
of  shame  at  the  atrocities  which  had  been  perpetrated. 
Pope  Innocent  III.  wrote:  "  Since,  in  your  obedience 
to  the  Crucified  One,  you  took  upon  yourself  the 
vow  to  deliver  the  Holy  Land  from  the  power  of  the 
pagans,  and  since  you  were  forbidden,  under  pain  of 
excommunication,  to  attack  any  Christian  land  or  to 
damage  it,  unless  its  inhabitants  opposed  your  pas- 
sage or  refused  you  what  was  necessary,  and  since 
you  had  neither  right  nor  pretence  of  right  over 
Greece,  you  have  slighted  your  vow ;  you  have  pre- 
ferred earthly  to  heavenly  riches ;  but  that  which 
weighs  more  heavily  upon  you  than  all  this  is  that 
you  have  spared  nothing  that  is  sacred,  neither  age 
nor  sex.  You  have  given  yourselves  up  to  debauch- 
ery in  the  face  of  all  the  world,  you  have  glutted 
your  guilty  passions,  and  you  have  pillaged  in  such 
fashion  that  the  Greek  Church,  although  borne  down 
by  persecution,  refuses  obedience  to  the  apostolical 
see,  because  it  sees  in  the  Latins  only  treason  and 
the  works  of  darkness,  and  loathes  them  like  dogs." 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 

FOUNDING    THE    LATIX    KINGDOM    OF    CONSTANTI- 
NOPLE. 

AVING  conquered  Constantinople  and 
presumably  the  empire  hitherto  ruled 
from  its  palaces,  it  now  devolved  upon 
the  Latins  to  select  an  emperor  from 
their  own  race.  Twelve  electors  were 
chosen,  six  from  the  Venetians  and  six  from  the  cru- 
saders, to  whom  was  delegated  the  responsibility  of 
making  the  final  choice.  These  met  at  the  Church 
of  our  Lady  the  Illuminator,  which  was  located  within 
the  walls  of  the  palace  of  Bucolion.  After  celebra- 
tion of  mass  the  electors  took  a  solemn  oath  upon 
the  relics  deposited  in  that  church,  that  they  would 
bestow  the  crown  upon  him  whom  they  regarded  as 
the  ablest  to  defend  and  exalt  their  new  possessions. 
To  silence  any  popular  opposition  to  their  choice,  the 
bravest  of  the  guards  were  placed  about  the  palace, 
pledged  to  maintain  the  election. 

Ther-e  were  three,  possibly  four,  preeminent  candi- 
dates for  the  imperial  honor.  Dandolo  was  recog- 
nized as  chief  in  abilit}-,  but  he  was  far  advanced  in 
years  and  could  promise  at  best  but  a  brief  tenure  of 

291 


292  The  Fourth  Crusade. 

the  sceptre ;  besides,  the  Venetians  themselves  were 
not  agreed  in  asking  for  his  elevation.  If  the  doge 
of  Venice  should  have  his  capital  in  the  East,  Venice 
herself,  the  queen  of  the  Adriatic,  would  sink  beneath 
the  splendors  of  the  queen  of  the  Bosporus.  The 
men  who  had  exalted  their  city  to  that  of  chief 
prominence  in  the  maritime  world  were  naturally 
jealous  of  this  transfer  of  prestige.  Dandolo  himself 
was  astute  enough  to  foresee  the  danger  and  de- 
clined to  contest  the  election. 

Boniface,  as  head  of  the  crusaders,  was  next  in 
prominence.  He  had,  moreover,  sought  to  make  him- 
self more  ehgible  by  marrying  Maria,  the  widow  of 
the  late  Emperor  Isaac,  that  thus  he  might  secure 
the  loyalty  of  the  Greeks.  But  his  election  would 
be  fraught  with  disadvantage  to  Venice  in  that  his 
alliance  would  be  first  of  all  with  his  relative,  Philip 
of  Swabia,  and,  in  the  event  of  the  union  of  the  East 
with  that  German  power,  Venice  would  be  politically 
overshadowed. 

It  is  alleged  by  some  writers  that  PhiHp  himself 
was  proposed.  He  was  at  the  time,  as  we  have 
stated,  contesting  the  sceptre  of  Germany  with  Otho, 
who  had  been  approved  by  the  Pope.  Philip's  ac- 
quisition of  the  Eastern  sceptre  might  give  him  pre- 
dominant weight  in  the  West  and  possibly  convert 
the  Pope  to  his  interests,  especially  as  thus  the  union 
of  the  churches  would  be  facilitated.  Thus  the  rea- 
sons urged  against  Boniface  were  of  equal  force 
against  Philip. 

Dandolo  declared  his  preference  for  Baldwin,  Earl 
of  Flanders.     This  chieftain  was  but  thirty-two  years 


Baldwin  Elected  Emperor.  293 


of  age,  a  cousin  of  the  King  of  France,  and  of  the 
blood  of  Charlemagne.  He  had  proved  his  bravery 
on  many  a  field,  and  was,  moreover,  unobjectionable 
to  the  more  ardent  among  the  crusaders  from  the 
fact  that,  unlike  Boniface,  he  had  taken  no  active 
part  in  originally  diverting  the  movement  from  its 
legitimate  destination  against  Syria  and  Egypt.  The 
French,  who  were  the  majorit)'  in  the  host,  sided 
with  him.  Between  tlie  parties  of  Boniface  and 
Baldwin  it  was  agreed  that,  in  the  event  of  either  at- 
taining to  the  immediate  government  of  the  empire, 
the  other  should  acquire  as  his  special  dominion  the 
Peloponnesus  and  the  Asiatic  provinces  beyond  the 
Bosporus. 

While  the  electors  deliberated  the  crowd  without 
waited  with  anxiety.  At  midnight.  May  9th,  the 
doors  of  the  church  were  opened.  The  Bishop  of 
Soissons  announced  the  decision :  "  This  hour  of  the 
night,  which  saw  the  birth  of  God,  sees  also  the  birth 
of  a  new  empire.  We  proclaim  as  emperor  Earl 
Baldwin  of  Flanders  and  Hainaut."  The  successful 
candidate  was  raised  upon  a  shield  and  carried  into 
the  church,  where  he  was  vested  with  the  vermilion 
buskins.  A  week  later  he  was  solemnly  crowned  in 
St.  Sophia.  At  the  coronation  Boniface  attended  his 
rival,  carrying  in  the  procession  the  royal  robe  of 
cloth  of  gold. 

But  Boniface's  loyalty  scarcely  endured  the  strain 
put  upon  it.  He  soon  exchanged  the  dominion  of 
the  Peloponnesus  and  Asia  Minor,  which  had  been 
assigned  to  him  by  the  electors'  agreement,  for  that 
of  Salonica.     0\er  this  he  and  Baldwin  incessantly 


294  X^^^  Fourth  Crusade. 

quarrelled.  This  strife  between  the  leaders  was  the 
indication  of  the  dissensions  everywhere  among  the 
Latins  in  their  greedy  division  of  the  estates  of 
the  new  realm. 

The  chief  actors  in  that  stirring  drama  soon 
passed  off  the  scene.  Baldwin  was  captured,  and 
probably  murdered,  by  the  Bulgarians  before  Adri- 
anople  in  1205,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother 
Henry.  Dandolo,  having  acquired  the  title  "  Lord 
of  a  Quarter  and  a  Half  of  all  the  Roman  World," 
died  June,  1205.  A  slab  recently  discovered  in  St. 
Sophia  is  inscribed,  "  Henrico  Dandolo,"  and  prob- 
ably marks  his  grave.  With  all  his  faults,  the  modern 
Venetian  might  well  cry  with  Byron : 

"  Oh,  for  one  hour  of  blind  old  Dandolo, 
The  octogenarian  chief,  Byzantium's  conquering  foe!" 

Boniface  two  years  later  was  mortally  wounded  in 
a  fight  with  the  Bulgarians  in  the  Rhodope  Moun- 
tains. Mourtzouphlos  was  soon  taken  prisoner  and 
hurled  headlong  from  the  column  of  Theodosius,  thus 
fulfilling  a  local  prophecy  relative  to  the  column,  that 
it  should  witness  the  destruction  of  some  perfidious 
ruler. 

It  is  not  within  our  scope  to  narrate  the  history  of 
the  Latin  empire  thus  established.  For  fifty-seven 
years  it  maintained  a  precarious  existence,  and  finally 
fell  again  into  the  hands  of  the  Greeks,  who  had  con- 
stantly menaced  it  from  their  opposing  capital  of 
Nicaea  (1264). 

The  most  serious  consequence  of  the  capture  of 
Constantinople  by  the  Latins  was  the  new  hope  and 


Fatal  I }ijl lie  nee  of  the  Fourth  Crusade.   295 


opportunity  imparted  to  the  Turks.  The  Greeks, 
with  all  their  weaknesses,  had  for  generations  been  a 
buffer  between  Islam  and  Europe.  The  empire  had 
stood  like  a  wall  across  the  great  highway  of  the 
Asiatic  incursion.  If  the  Greeks  had  been  generally 
the  losers  in  the  struggle,  they  had  maintained  suffi- 
cient power  to  occupy  the  arms  of  tlieir  contestants, 
leaving  the  Christians  of  the  West  free  to  prey  upon 
the  Moslems  of  Syria  and  adjacent  countries.  Now 
all  was  changed  in  this  respect.  The  .war  of  Latins 
with  Greeks  engrossed,  and  largely  used  up,  the 
power  of  both  as  against  their  common  enemy. 
Though  the  capital  had  fallen,  the  Greek  everywhere 
was  still  the  sworn  enemy  of  the  Latin. 

In  the  meantime  the  Moslems  were  compacting 
and  extending  their  military  power.  They  were 
growing  in  multitude  by  the  migration  of  new  swarms 
from  the  original  hive  in  the  farther  East.  They 
were  destined  to  become  too  strong  for  Christendom 
to  resist,  to  move  steadily  on  to  their  own  conquest 
of  Constantinople,  and  even  to  knock  at  the  gate  of 
Vienna.  The  words  of  Edward  Pears  are  undoubt- 
edly warranted:  "The  crime  of  the  fourth  crusade 
handed  over  Constantinople  and  the  Balkan  peninsula 
to  six  centuries  of  barbarism." 


^^d^:^! 

1 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

BETWEEN  THE  FOURTH  AND  FIFTH  CRUSADES — 
CONDITION  OF  EAST  AND  WEST — THE  CHIL- 
DREN'S   CRUSADE. 

HE  campaign  of  Europe  against  Constan- 
tinople wrought  only  evil  among  the 
Christian  colonists  of  Syria  and  Palestine. 
In  the  time  of  their  deepest  need  there 
were  diverted  from  their  cause  the  enor- 
mous sums  of  money  that  had  been  raised  for  their 
succor,  multitudes  of  brother  warriors,  whose  swords 
were  sadly  missed  amid  the  daily  menaces  of  their 
foes,  and  the  active  sympathies,  if  not  even  the 
prayers,  of  their  coreligionists  at  home.  Dire  calam- 
ities also  fell  upon  them,  which  no  human  arm 
could  have  prevented.  The  plague  had  followed  the 
terrible  Egyptian  famine  of  1200,  and  spread  its  pall 
far  to  the  East.  Earthquakes  of  the  most  terrific 
sort  changed  the  topography  of  many  places ;  tidal 
waves  obliterated  shore-lines ;  fortresses,  like  those 
of  Baalbec  and  Hamah,  tottered  to  their  fall  upon 
the  unsteady  earth ;  stately  temples,  which  had 
monumented  the  art  and  religion  of  antiquity,  be- 
came   heaps    of    ruins;    Nablous,    Damascus,   Tyre, 

296 


Eastern  Disasters — Jo  Jin  of  Brienne.    297 


Tripoli,  and  Acre  were  shaken  down.  It  would  seem 
that  only  the  common  prayers  of  Christians  and 
Mussulmans  averted  the  calamity  from  Jerusalem, 
the  city  that  was  sacred  in  the  creed  of  both. 

Such  sums  of  money  as  the  cries  for  help  brought 
from  Europe  were  expended  first  in  repairing  the 
walls  of  Acre,  into  which  service  the  Christians  forced 
their  Moslem  prisoners.  Among  the  chain-gangs 
thus  set  at  work  was  the  famous  Sa'di,  the  greatest 
of  Persian  poets,  almost  equally  noted  for  his  elo- 
quence as  a  preacher  and  for  his  adventures  as  a 
traveller. 

Amaury,  King  of  Jerusalem,  died,  leaving  his  use- 
less sceptre  in  the  hands  of  his  wife,  Isabella,  whose 
demise  passed  it  on  to  her  daughter,  Mary,  by  her 
former  husband,  Conrad  of  Tyre.  Such  were  the 
burdens  of  the  unsupported  throne  that  none  of  the 
warriors  in  the  East  ventured  to  assume  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  new  queen's  hand.  A  husband  was 
sought  for  her  in  Europe.  John  of  Brienne  was 
nominated  by  Philip  of  France  for  the  hazardous 
nuptials.  John  had  been  a  monk,  but  his  adventur- 
ous and  martial  spirit  soon  tired  of  the  cowl.  He 
abandoned  the  austerities  of  a  professional  saint  for 
the  freedom  of  the  camp  and  the  dangers  of  the  field. 
The  romantic  perils  of  wedding  the  dowerless  queen 
attracted  him. 

Rumors  of  a  new  crusade  of  gigantic  proportions 
led  Malek-Ahdel  to  propose  a  renewal  of  the  truce 
with  the  Christians,  which,  though  continually  broken, 
was  in  his  estimation  safer  than  an  openly  declared 
war.     The  Hospitallers  approved  peace.     This  was 


298  After  the  Fourth  Crusade. 


sufficient  to  make  their  rivals,  the  Templars,  eager 
for  the  reverse,  and  the  majority  of  the  l<:nights  and 
barons  flew  to  arms  against  one  another. 

John  of  Brienne  reached  Acre  with  a  meagre  fol- 
lowing of  three  hundred  knights.  His  nuptials  with 
the  young  Queen  Mary  were  rudely  disturbed  by 
the  Moslems,  who  besieged  Ptolemai's  and  swarmed 
in  threatening  masses  around  Acre.  In  their  straits 
the  Christians  again  appealed  to  Europe  ;  but  Chris- 
tendom was  fully  occupied  with  contentions  within 
its  own  borders.  France  was  at  war  with  England 
to  repossess  the  fair  provinces  which  the  Angevine 
kings  had  wrested  from  her  along  the  Atlantic.  At 
the  same  time  she  was  pressing  her  conquests  be- 
yond the  Rhine  against  the  Germans.  Germany 
was  divided  by  the  rival  claimants  for  the  imperial 
sceptre,  Otho  and  Philip  of  Swabia. 

A  more  serious  diversion  of  interest  from  the 
affairs  of  Palestine  was  due  to  the  crusade  under 
Simon  de  Montfort  against  the  Albigenses,  whose 
record  makes  one  of  the  blackest  pages  of  human 
history.  (See  Dr.  Vincent's  volume  in  this  series.) 
The  Saracens  in  Spain  were  also  threatening  to  over- 
turn the  Christian  kingdom  of  Castile,  and  were  de- 
feated only  with  tremendous  effort,  which  culminated 
in  the  great  battle  of  Tolosa  (12 12). 

In  12 12  or  12 13  occurred  what  is  known  as  the 
Children's  Crusade,  a  movement  that  doubtless  has 
been  greatly  exaggerated  by  after  writers,  but  the 
facts  of  which  illustrate  the  ignorance  and  credulity, 
as  well  as  the  adventurous,  not  to  say  marauding, 
spirit  of  the  times.     If  in  our  day  the  free  circulation 


The  Childretis  Crusade.  299 


of  stories  relating  the  adventures  of  cutthroats  and 
robbers  intlames  the  passions  and  engenders  lawless 
conceits  in  the  young,  we  may  imagine  that  reports 
of  the  bloody  u-ork  done  by  persecutors  of  the  Al- 
bi-enses,  dastardly  and  cruel  deeds,  which  were  ap- 
plauded by  Pope  and  people,  could  not  but  make  a 
similar  impression  upon  the  callow  mind  of  childhood 
in  the  middle  ages.     Boys  practised  the  sword-thrust 
at  one  another's  throats,  built  their  pile  of  fagots 
about    the    stake    of    some    imaginary   heretic,   and 
charged  in  mimic  brigades  upon  phantom  hosts  of 
Inf\d*els.     It  needed  only  the  impassioned  appeals  of 
unwise  preachers  to  start  the  avalanche  thus  trem- 
bling on  the  slope.     It  was  proclaimed  that  supernal 
powers   waited  to    strengthen   the   children's   arms. 
The  lads  were  all  to  prove  Davids  going  forth  against 
Goliaths;  the  girls  would  become  new  Judiths  and 
Deborahs  without  waiting  for  their  growth.      It  was 
especially    revealed    that    the    Mediterranean    from 
Genoa  to  Joppa  would  be   dried  up  so  that  these 
children  of  God  could  pass  through  it  dry-shod. 

From  towns  and  cities  issued  bands  of  boys  and 
girls,  who  in  response  to  the  question,  "  Whither  are 
you'  going?"  replied,  "To  Jerusalem."  "Boy 
preachers  "  were  universally  encouraged  to  proclaim 
the  crusade.  One  lad,  named  Stephen,  announcing 
that  Christ  had  visited  him,  led  hundreds  away.  A 
boy  named  Nicholas,  instigated  by  older  persons, 
deluded  a  company  into  crossing  the  Alps,  where 
many  starved,  were  killed,  or  kidnapped.  The  real 
leaders,  however,  seem  to  have  been  men  and  women 
of  disorderly  habits,  who  in  an  age  of  impoverished 


300  After  the  Fourth  Crusade. 

homes  readily  adopted  the  Hves  of  tramps,  and  used 
the  pitiable  appearance  of  the  children  to  secure  the 
charities  of  the  towns  and  cities  they  passed  through. 
Saracen  kidnappers  also  took  advantage  of  the  craze 
to  lure  children  on  board  of  ships  by  promise  of  free 
passage  to  the  Holy  Land.  Thus  entrapped,  they 
were  sold  as  slaves  for  Eastern  fields  or  harems. 
Seven  vessels  were  loaded  with  Christian  children  at 
Marseilles.  Five  of  the  ships  reached  Egypt,  con- 
signed to  slave  merchants ;  two  were  wrecked  off  the 
isle  of  St.  Peter,  where  Pope  Gregory  IX.  afterwards 
caused  a  church  to  be  built  in  memory  of  the  victims. 


THE    FIFTH    CRUSADE. 


CHAPTER   XL. 

DISASTER    OF    MARIETTA. 


OPE  INNOCENT  III.  comforted  himself 
for  this  "  slaughter  of  the  innocents"  by 
making  the  incident  the  basis  of  a  new 
appeal  for  the  relief  of  Palestine.  "  Thef;e 
children,"  said  he,  "  reproach  us  with 
being  asleep  while  they  were  flying  to  the  assistance 
of  the  Holy  Land."  In  his  exhortation  to  Europe 
the  Holy  Father  ventures  to  interpret  the  mysterious 
prediction  of  the  Book  of  Revelation  regarding  the 
duration  of  the  Antichrist  symbolized  by  the  beast. 
Some  Protestants  have  presumptuously  applied  the 
figures  to  the  destiny  of  the  Roman  Church.  In- 
nocent regarded  Mohammedanism  as  meant,  and, 
counting  from  the  hejira  of  Mohammed  (622)  to  his 
own  day,  announced  to  the  people,  in  the  name  of 
God,  whose  infallible  vicegerent  he  was,  "  The  power 
of  Moliammed  draws  towards  its  end  ;  for  that  power 
is  nothing  but  the  beast  of  the  Apocalypse,  which  is 


302  The  Fifth  Crusade. 

not  to  extend  beyond  the  number  of  six  hundred  and 
sixty-six  years,  and  already  six  hundred  have  been 
accomplished."  Europe  was  asked  to  believe  that  the 
marshalled  nations  of  the  East,  then  so  threatening, 
would  only  furnish  the  funeral  cortege  of  Antichrist, 
after  which  the  world  would  enter  upon  its  millen- 
nium of  peace. 

Every  crowned  head,  every  noble,  every  knight, 
every  city,  every  church,  received  its  especial  appeal 
from  Rome  to  offer  men,  ships,  money,  and  incessant 
prayers  for  this  last  holy  adventure.  With  equal 
assurance  Innocent  addressed  letters  to  the  sultans 
of  Damascus  and  Cairo,  giving  them  an  opportunity 
to  voluntarily  restore  the  holy  places  before  the  final 
vengeance  of  the  Lord.  Ardent  orators,  like  Cardi- 
nal Courgon  and  James  of  Vitri  (an  original  chroni- 
cler of  these  events),  went  everywhere,  firing  the 
passions  of  the  people.  Philip  Augustus  appropriated 
for  the  project  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  the  terri- 
torial revenue  of  France.  King  John  of  England 
promised  to  make  amends  for  his  many  sins  by  tak- 
ing the  cross ;  he  was  the  more  inclined  to  this  from 
the  fact  that  his  barons  had  just  wrenched  from  him 
Magna  Charta,  and  the  Pope  had  put  him  under  ex- 
communication ;  his  pretence  of  piety  was  the  policy 
of  the  moment.  Frederick  II.  of  Germany,  to  secure 
the  papal  favor  in  his  contest  with  Otho  for  the  im- 
perial throne,  assumed  the  role  of  a  crusader. 

The  movement  was,  however,  halted  by  the  affairs 
in  France.  England,  Flanders,  Holland,  Boulogne, 
with  the  aid  of  the  German  Otho,  invaded  France. 
At  the  battle  of  Bou vines  (12 14)  this  combination 


Start  of  the  Crusaders.  303 

was  overthrown,  and  the  French  monarchy,  with  re- 
stored territory  and  prestige,  assumed  the  indepen- 
dence which  it  maintained  until  recent  times. 

In  12 15  the  Lateran  Council  issued  the  grand 
order  for  the  crusading  expedition.  The  Pope  and 
cardinals  taxed  themselves  a  tenth  of  their  income, 
and  all  ecclesiastics  a  twentieth.  So  great  was  the 
excitement  for  war  that  two  astounding  phenomena 
were  observed:  luminous  crosses  appeared  in  the 
heavens,  and  the  Troubadours  sang  only  of  battle,  no 
longer  of  love.  Innocent  III  proposed  to  head  the 
crusade  in  person,  but  when  his  example  had  wrought 
its  full  influence  discreetly  retired  from  the  leadership. 
Shortly  after  he  died,  and  Honorius  III.  came  into 
the  pontificate. 

In  12 1 7  the  mighty  armament  was  in  motion. 
Andrew  II.,  King  of  Hungary,  was  designated  chief. 
Germany,  under  its  representative  dukes  of  Bavaria 
and  Austria,  followed  in  his  train.  The  host  was 
augmented  by  those  from  Italy  and  France  and  the 
islands  of  the  Mediterranean.  According  to  the 
Arabian  historian,  it  was  the  largest  force  ever  at  one 
time  pitted  against  them  in  Palestine. 

The  arm}-  landed  at  Acre.  The  new  soldiers  sig- 
nalled their  arrival  by  an  impressive  exhibition  of 
their  pilgrim  zeal.  They  formed  an  immense  pro- 
cession. At  their  head  was  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusa- 
lem, who  bore  aloft  a  piece  of  wood  which  had  been 
surreptitiously  cut  from  the  True  Cross  at  the  time 
it  was  captured  by  Saladin  at  Hattin.  With  utmost 
pomp  they  passed  over  the  land  from  the  sea  to  the 
Jordan,  bathed  in  the  waters  of  the  sacred  river,  and 


304  The  Fifth  Crusade. 

lingered  to  pray  amid  the  ruins  on  the  shores  of  the 
Sea  of  Tiberias.  They  gathered  many  relics,  and  did 
not  hesitate  to  take  as  their  pious  plunder  many  of 
the  people  of  the  land,  whom  they  brought  with  them 
as  prisoners  to  Acre. 

No  enemy  molested  them.  Malek-Ahdel  had  ad- 
vised that  the  invaders  be  left  to  their  own  dissen- 
sions, which,  judging  from  previous  observation,  were 
sure  to  follow  as  soon  as  they  should  attempt  to  di- 
vide the  spoil  they  might  take.  The  martial  spirit  of 
the  Christians  did  not  resent  this  idleness,  and  stag- 
nation of  energy  bred  moral  malaria.  Camp  vices 
thrived  to  such  an  extent  that  the  leaders  were  forced 
to  drive  out  the  soldiers  in  search  of  manly  ad- 
ventures. Mount  Tabor,  the  Mount  of  Transfigura- 
tion, lifted  high  its  head,  crowned  with  Moslem  forts 
in  place  of  the  Church  of  St.  Helena  and  of  the  two 
monasteries  which  had  formerly  commemorated  the 
tabernacles  of  Moses  and  Elias.  The  crusaders  were 
ordered  to  capture  the  holy  m.ountain.  That  all 
doubt  of  Heaven's  favor  in  the  enterprise  might  be 
removed,  the  patriarch  read  the  gospel  for  the  day, 
first  Sunday  in  Advent,  and  interpreted  the  words, 
"  Go  ye  into  the  village  over  against  you,"  to  mean 
the  castle  on  Tabor. 

Led  by  this  high  dignitary,  who  carried  the  ubi- 
quitous piece  of  the  True  Cross,  they  made  the  ascent 
through  a  shower  of  Moslem  arrows  and  an  avalanche 
of  stones.  The  defenders  at  first  retired  within  their 
citadel,  but  an  unaccountable  panic  seized  the  assail- 
ants :  they  deserted  their  own  cause  at  the  moment 
of  victory,  and  made  a  disorderly  retreat  down  to  the 


Assault  of  Mount  Tabor— Damietta.  305 


plain.     Their  piety  was,  however,  compensated  by 
the  capture  of  a   number  of   women  and   children, 
whom  they  forced  to  be  baptized.     The  anticipated 
dissensions  followed.      Each  leader  reproached  the 
others.      On    Christmas   eve  a  terrific   storm    swept 
the  camp,  which,  in  the  general  discouragement,  they 
attributed  to  the  displeasure  of   Heaven.      Lack  of 
provisions  forced  them  to  encamp  in  difTerent  neigh- 
borhoods—Tripoli,  Acre,    Mount   Carmel,   and    the 
plains    of    Caesarea.     The    commander-in-chief,    the 
King   of   Hungary,    returned   to   Europe,   consoling 
himself  for  lack  of  martial  laurels  by  the  possession 
of  the  head  of  St.  Peter,  the  hand  of  St.  Thomas,  and 
one  of  the  seven  water-jars  in  which  Christ  had  made 
water   wine   at   Cana.     The   sacred    relics    did    not, 
however,  prevent  his  subsequent  excommunication. 
This  crusade  was  saved  from  utter  and  ignominious 
failure  only  by  the  arrival  of  fresh  enthusiasts  from 
the  West.     Bands  from  Friesland  and  the  banks  of 
the  Rhine  had  taken  ships  on  the  Baltic  and  coasted 
by  France  and  Portugal.     They  told  of  the  luminous 
crosses  which  appeared  in  the  heavens  and  signalled 
them  by  moving  towards  the  East,  and  how  squad- 
rons of  angels  had   fought  with   them  against  the 
Moors  on  the  Tagus. 

The  courage  of  their  brethren  was  thus  rekindled 
to  venture  at  the  opening  of  spring  (12 18)  upon  an 
invasion  of  Egypt.  The  chronicler  tells  us  of  a 
favorable  omen  here  observed  by  the  crusaders :  the 
water  of  the  Nile,  which  was  sweet  to  the  taste  on 
their  arrival,  afterwards  became  salt. 

The  city  of  Damietta  was  guarded  by  a  strong 


3o6  The  Fifth  Ci'usade. 

tower,  which  rose  from  the  middle  of  the  Nile,  and 
was  connected  with  the  walls  by  an  immense  chain 
which  impeded  the  passage  of  ships.  The  crusaders 
attacked  this  unavailingly.  There  were  in  the  host 
certain  skilled  mechanics,  who,  "  by  the  inspiration 
of  the  Almighty,"  constructed  an  enormous  wooden 
tower,  which  floated  upon  two  vessels  and  overtopped 
the  walls  of  the  great  citadel.  In  vain  did  the  Mos- 
lems set  fire  to  this  with  streams  of  liquid  flame. 
The  prayers  of  the  monks  on  the  shore,  together  with 
the  "tears  of  the  faithful,"  and,  we  may  add,  the 
abundant  oblation  of  the  buckets,  soon  subdued  the 
conflagration.  The  huge  drawbridge  which  dropped 
from  the  top  of  the  floating  tower  successfully  landed 
upon  the  walls  three  hundred  brave  knights.  Their 
valor,  together  with  the  spiritual  prowess  of  the 
patriarch,  who  lay  stretched  on  the  ground  wrestling 
with  the  will  of  Heaven,  was  resistless,  and  soon  the 
flag  of  the  Duke  of  Austria  was  flying  from  the  ram- 
parts ;  not,  however,  until  the  usual  band  of  celestial 
knights  in  white  armor  had  dazzled  the  eyes  of  the 
Moslems,  so  that  they  could  not  see  where  to  strike 
their  foes.  This  was  on  August  24th,  which,  being 
St.  Bartholomew's  day,  enabled  the  crusaders  also  to 
see  that  saint,  clad  in  red,  at  the  head  of  their  celes- 
tial assistants. 

Mastering  the  tower  of  the  Nile  and  breaking  the 
chain  which  obstructed  the  channel,  the  Christian 
fleet  lay  close  to  the  walls  of  the  city. 

Seventeen  months  were  destined  to  pass  in  the 
siege  of  Damietta.  In  September  Malek-Ahdel  died. 
He  had  before  formally  laid  down  the  chieftainship. 


The  Ajff'a  ir  of  Da  m  ietta.  3 o  7 


and  divided  his  realm  among  his  many  sons;  but  his 
prestige  and  continually  sought  counsel  made  him 
until  his  death  the  virtual  head  of  the  Moslem  power. 
He  maintained  a  sumptuous  court  and  a  splendid 
palace,  the  recesses  of  which  were  regarded  by  the 
faithful  as  a  sanctuary  where  Heaven  daily  blessed  its 
favorite  son.  The  various  courts  saluted  him  as  "  king 
of  kings,"  and  the  camps  hailed  him  as  saphadin,  the 
"sword  of  religion."  His  death  threw  a  shadow 
upon  the  Moslem  world. 

Instead  of  taking  advantage  of  this  providence,  the 
Christians  seemed  to  emulate  the  divisions  of  their 
enemies.  Many  grew  weary  of  the  task  they  had 
vowed  to  Heaven,  and  returned  to  Europe.  The 
priests  pronounced  a  curse  upon  the  deserters.  This 
malediction  was  regarded  as  inspired  when  it  was 
learned  that  six  thousand  of  the  crusaders  from 
Brittany  had  been  v/recked  ofT  the  coast  of  Italy,  and 
that  the  returning  Frieslanders  reached  their  homes 
only  to  witness  the  wrath  of  the  North  Sea,  which 
broke  the  Holland  dikes,  submerged  their  richest 
provinces  and  cities,  and  drowned  one  hundred  thou- 
sand of  the  inhabitants. 

But  new  warriors  were  e.xcited  to  redeem  the  op- 
portunity. France  and  England  sent  much  of  their 
best  blood  and  many  of  their  most  famous  names. 
Among  the  multitude  of  celebrities  was  one  who  was 
destined  to  bring  the  entire  crusade  to  a  fatal  end- 
ing. Cardinal  Pelagius  was  delegated  as  papal  legate. 
He  was  a  man  of  arrogance,  and  asserted  his  right  to 
supersede  even  John  of  Brienne,  the  King  of  Jeru- 
salem, in  the  military  command.     This  position  was 


3o8  The  FiftJi  Crusade. 

refused  him  by  the  soldiery.  He  at  length  accom- 
plished his  ambition  by  threatening  all  who  opposed 
him  with  excommunication. 

The  coming  of  these  auxiliaries  spurred  the  Chris- 
tians to  take  advantage  of  contentions  among  the 
Moslems  and  make  a  forward  movement.  They 
crossed  from  the  west  bank  of  the  Nile  and  invested 
Damietta.  The  menace  reunited  the  Infidels.  Bat- 
tles were  of  daily  occurrence,  in  which  whole  battal- 
ions, now  of  Christians,  now  of  Moslems,  were  driven 
into  the  Nile,  and  perished. 

One  beautiful  episode  redeemed  these  hellish 
scenes.  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  visited  the  camps ;  he 
went  among  his  brethren  with  consolations  for  the 
sick  and  wounded,  his  presence  redolent  with  hea- 
venly charity.  No  labors  could  weary  this  man,  who 
already  seemed  divested  largely  of  his  physical  nature, 
and  to  be  sustained  only  by  the  power  of  his  inward 
spirit.  His  zeal  for  God  led  him  to  visit  even  the 
camp  of  the  Moslems.  He  preached  his  doctrines 
before  Malek-Kamel,  the  Sultan  of  Cairo ;  he  alter- 
nately threatened  the  sultan's  infidelity  with  the 
pains  of  hell,  and  sought  to  win  his  better  faith  by 
promises  of  heaven.  Francis  proposed  to  test  the 
truth  of  either  religion  by  passing  with  the  holiest 
Moslems  through  an  ordeal  of  fire.  This  being  de- 
clined, he  offered  himself  to  the  flame,  provided  that 
the  sultan's  conversion  should  follow  the  refusal  of 
fire  to  burn  the  representative  of  the  faith  of  Christ. 
With  courteous  words  the  test  was  declined.  Mos- 
lems reverenced  insane  persons  as  in  some  way  under 
a  divine  influence ;  Malek-Kamel  treated  his  unin- 


Pelagiiis — Francis  of  Assist .  309 


vited  guest  as  one  of  this  sort.  The  Moslem  doctors 
of  the  law  commanded  Malek-Kamel  to  take  ofT  the 
head  of  the  intruder,  but  the  warrior  was  either  too 
much  amused  with  the  simplicity,  or  too  much 
amazed  at  the  sincerity,  of  his  visitor  to  harm  him, 
and  dismissed  him  with  presents,  which,  however, 
Francis'  vow  of  poverty  would  not  allow  him  to 
accept. 

Whether  persuaded  by  the  holy  eloquence  of  the 
saint,  or  by  the  rumor  that  Frederick  of  Germany 
was  approaching  with  fresh  armies,  the  sultan  pro- 
posed peace.  He  offered  the  flattering  condition  of 
giving  up  Jerusalem  to  the  Christians.  The  warriors 
would  have  assented  thus  to  secure  as  the  reward  of 
their  valor  that  which  had  been  the  object  of  the 
entire  crusade  ;  but  Cardinal  Pelagius  forbade,  in  the 
name  of  the  Holy  Father,  the  cessation  of  arms  at 
any  less  price  than  the  entire  subjugation  of  the 
Moslem  power. 

Damietta  was  therefore  more  closely  invested ;  its 
garrison  was  reduced  to  starvation.  To  prevent  pos- 
sible defection  among  his  miserable  soldiers,  the  com- 
mander of  Damietta  walled  up  the  gates  of  the  city. 
The  Christians  made  an  assault  in  full  force  ;  the  rams 
battered  the  trembling  towers  ;  ladders  swarmed  with 
assailants;  no  one  opposed  them.  Sweeping  over 
the  ramparts  with  naked  swords,  they  found  the 
streets  and  houses  filled  with  the  dead.  Of  seventy 
thousand  scarcely  three  thousand  of  the  inhabi- 
tants had  remained  alive.  The  air  was  fraught  with 
poisonous  stench  from  the  decaying  corpses ;  as  the 
chronicler  says,  "the  dead  had   killed   the   living." 


3 1  o  The  Fifth  Crusade, 

The  crusaders  could  abide  only  long  enough  to 
gather  the  booty,  and  left  the  city  to  be  cleansed 
by  carrion-birds  and  the  air  of  heaven. 

This  temporary  success  of  his  policy  inflamed  the 
conceit  of  Cardinal  Pelagius.  According  to  his  own 
people,  the  "  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords  "  had 
given  him  the  city;  "  under  the  guidance  of  Christ " 
the  soldiers  had  scaled  the  walls.  The  victors  took 
as  their  reward  the  rich  plunder  of  the  place,  and 
gratefully  "  baptized  all  the  children  who  were  found 
alive  in  the  city,  thereby  giving  to  God  the  first-fruit 
of  souls." 

The  Moslems,  afflicted  by  these  reverses,  enlarged 
their  conditions  of  peace  to  the  yielding  up,  not  only 
of  Jerusalem,  but  all  the  Holy  Land.  The  cardinal 
refused  even  these  terms,  and  proposed  to  march  to 
the  capture  of  Cairo,  the  capital  of  Egypt.  \\\  vain 
did  the  military  leaders  protest  against  that  which 
they  esteemed  impracticable  in  itself,  and  which,  in 
the  event  of  its  success,  would  leave  on  their  hands 
a  land  which  they  could  not  hope  to  defend  against 
the  myriads  who  were  swarming  from  all  parts  of 
the  Moslem  world.  The  cardinal  accused  the  war- 
riors of  timidity  and  irreligion.  This  was  too  much 
for  John  of  Brienne,  who  would  have  dared  to  sheathe 
his  good  sword  in  the  bowels  of  Lucifer  himself. 
Orders  for  the  ascent  of  the  Nile  were  given.  At 
the  junction  of  its  two  branches,  the  southern  ex- 
treme of  the  Delta,  the  Moslems  made  their  fortified 
camp,  and  built  what  has  since  been  known  as  the 
city  of  Mansourah.     The  enemy  approached;  once 


Disaster  at  Damietta.  3  1  i 

more  the  sultan  offered  peace,  including  now  the  gift 
of  the  Delta,  together  with  the  previously  offered 
conditions. 

The  refusal  of  this  exhausted  the  patience,  not  only 
of  the  sultan,  but  seemingly  of  Heaven  also.  With 
the  rising  of  the  Nile  the  Moslems  opened  the  sluices, 
flooded  all  the  canals  of  Lower  Kgypt,  and  inundated 
the  Christians'  camp.  Simultaneously  the  Moslem 
ships  made  their  way  up  through  the  canals  and  de- 
stroyed the  vessels  of  their  foes.  The  Infidels  oc- 
cupied every  rising  knoll ;  "  while,"  says  a  letter  from 
the  camp,  "  we  were  thus  caught  in  the  midst  of  the 
waters  like  fish  in  a  net."  In  vain  did  the  Christians 
endeavor  to  force  a  battle.  Shrewdly  retreating  from 
the  arbitrament  of  the  sword,  the  Moslems  left  the 
invaders  to  the  destruction  which  they  proclaimed 
Allah  had  prepared  for  Mis  insolent  adxersaries. 

Cardinal  Pelagius  now  begged  for  the  peace  he 
had  despised  ;  nor  did  he  stop  with  the  old  conditions. 
He  would  yield  all  he  had  taken  or  claimed,  if  only 
he  might  be  permitted  to  lead  the  armies  of  Europe 
safely  into  the  walls  of  distant  Acre.  This  capitula- 
tion was  reluctantly  accepted  by  the  Sultan  of  Cairo. 
The  haughty  cardinal,  the  brave  King  John  of  Bri- 
enne,  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  and  many  of  the  nobles 
meditated  their  disgrace  as  hostages  in  the  hostile 
camp,  while  the  Christian  soldiers  were  still  waiting 
the  will  of  their  conqueror  in  the  marshes.  King 
John  of  Brienne  one  day  sat  down  at  the  feet  of  the 
sultan  and  burst  into  tears.  The  Moslem  respected 
his  courage  and  was  grieved  at  the  distress  which 


312  The  Fifth  Crusade. 

seemingly  had  shaken  it.  "  Why  do  you  weep  ?  "  he 
asked.  "  To  see  my  brave  people  perishing  with 
hunger  amid  the  waters."  The  sultan  immediately 
provisioned  the  Christian  camp,  and  sent  his  own  son 
to  conduct  the  host  in  safety  out  of  the  land  they 
had  come  to  conquer  (autumn,  122 1). 


THE    SIXTH    CRUSADE. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

FREDERICK    II.    AND    POPE    GREGORY  IX. 

EVEN  years  elapsed  before  another  at- 
tempt worthy  of  record  was  made  for  the 
recapture  of  Palestine.  Frederick  II. 
(Hohenstaufen)  of  Germany  was  its  lead- 
er ;  hero  it  had  none. 
Frederick  was  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries,  though  not  meriting  the 
title  given  him  by  an  English  chronicler,  "  the  Won- 
der of  the  World."  The  grandson  of  Frederick  Bar- 
barossa,  son  of  Henry  IV.  and  Constance  of  Sicily, 
he  united  in  his  person  the  strongest  traits  of , Ger- 
man and  Italian  stock.  Born  in  i  194,  at  two  years 
of  age  he  was  elected  king  of  the  Romans,  and  in 
his  fourth  year  was  crowned  King  of  Sicily.  Pope 
Innocent  III.  was  the  guardian  of  his  childhood,  and 
well  discharged  his  duty,  if  the  rare  education  of 
Frederick  may  be  taken  as  evidence.  The  royal 
youth  mastered  Latin,  Greek,  French,  German,  and 

313 


314  T^f^^  Sixth  Crusade. 

knew  something  of  Arabic  and  Hebrew;  he  was 
creditably  versed  in  Saracenic  science  and  arts,  as 
well  as  in  Christian  philosophy  and  scholasticism ;  he 
wrote  well  on  the  habits  of  birds,  and  shared  with 
the  Troubadours  the  joys  of  the  poet's  art ;  he  en- 
dowed universities,  patronized  painters,  and  encour- 
aged architects.  In  government  he  deserves  to  rank 
among  the  empire-builders,  for  in  a  narrow  age  he 
extended  the  scope  of  law  for  the  toleration  of  Jews 
and  Mohammedans,  for  the  emancipation  of  peasants 
from  undue  oppression  at  the  hands  of  the  upper 
classes,  and  for  the  enlargement  of  international 
commerce  almost  to  the  line  of  the  modern  theory  of 
free  trade.  His  liberality  towards  Moslems  brought 
him  the  accusation  of  harboring  in  his  heart  a  secret 
infidelity,  which  his  severity  with  the  Christian 
schismatics  could  not  entirely  dispel. 

At  the  age  of  eighteen  Frederick  entered  into 
contest  for  the  imperial  throne  of  Germany,  and  in 
12 1 5,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  won  the  crown  of 
Charlemagne.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  grand 
object,  he  had,  as  a  first  step,  secured  the  alliance  of 
the  Pope.  This  he  did  by  pledging,  among  other 
things,  to  lead  a  crusade ;  but  the  pressing  emer- 
gencies of  his  new  crown  caused  delay  from  year  to 
year.  In  1225  he  married  lolante,  the  daughter  of 
John  of  Brienne,  King  of  Jerusalem.  He  at  once 
asserted  that  John  held  his  crown  only  in  virtue  of 
being  the  husband  of  Queen  Mary,  and  this  lady 
having  died,  her  daughter,  lolante,  was  lawful  sover- 
eign. Thus  by  marriage  he  annexed  to  his  German 
title  that  of  King  of  Jerusalem,  and  was  looked  to  by 


Pope  Gregory  IX.  3 1 5 

all  for  the  defence  of  his  new  dominion.  But  twoyears 
later  (122  7)  he  was  .still  too  busy  unravelling  European 
complications  to  absent  himself  in  the  distant  East. 

In  this  year  Gregory  IX.  ascended  the  papal 
throne.  While  this  Pope  still  retained  the  faculties 
and  ambition  of  youth,  he  had  developed  also  the 
obstinacy  and  petulance  of  old  age.  By  his  unwise 
dealing  with  the  German  emperor,  and  the  impolitic 
assertion  of  his  own  capricious  will  as  of  divine  au- 
thority, he  may  be  said  to  have  started  the  deca- 
dence of  the  papal  throne,  which  in  another  generation 
was  destined  to  lose  the  prestige  of  the  Hildebrandian 
policy  and  all  prospect  of  becoming  the  world  mon- 
archy. 

On  the  day  of  his  accession  to  power  Gregory  IX. 
issued  a  proclamation  for  all  the  sovereigns  of  Chris- 
tendom to  unite  in  a  new  crusade,  and  openly 
threatened  Frederick  with  his  ecclesiastical  venge- 
ance if  he  longer  postponed  the  fulfilment  of  his 
vow.  He  accused  the  emperor's  delay  with  being 
due  to  luxury,  if  not  sensuality,  in  living.  The  for- 
mer charge  probably  had  in  it  a  measure  of  truth,  for 
Frederick's  court  at  Palermo,  where  he  spent  more 
time  than  in  his  northern  capital,  was  the  centre  of 
gayety,  not  only  among  the  Christians,  but  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  for  Mohammedans.  Many  of  the  fairest 
women  of  Asia  and  North  Africa  graced  his  salons. 
It  might  also  be  imagined  of  Frederick  that  his  faith 
was  not  of  that  intense  and  credulous  nature  which 
foresaw  a  heavenly  crown  awaiting  his  exploits  in  the 
Holy  Land.  Equally  detrimental  to  his  repute  for 
crusading  zeal  were  the  courtesies  he  was  exchanging 


3i6  The  Sixth  Crusade. 

with  Malek-Kamel,  Sultan  of  Egypt.  It  was  even 
rumored  that  he  had  made  alliance  with  this  sultan, 
pledging  help  against  the  rival  Sultan  of  Damascus, 
on  condition  of  the  restoration  of  Jerusalem. 

But  the  sincerity  of  Frederick  was  proved  by  the 
gathering  of  his  fleets  and  the  massing  of  his  arma- 
ments at  Otranto.  The  fame  of  his  leadership  at- 
tracted the  noblest  of  Germany.  Among  them  was 
Ludwig,  Landgrave  of  Thuringia,  noted  for  having 
won  the  hand  of  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Andrew  II. 
of  Hungary,  who  in  her  girlhood  had  attained 
renown  for  her  asceticism  and  charities,  and  died 
(123 1 )  at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  to  be  canonized  as 
the  fairest  saint  of  the  middle  ages.  From  distant 
England  many  came  at  Frederick's  call,  and  further 
impelled  by  visions  of  the  Saviour  on  the  cross  of 
fire  which  appeared  in  that  northern  sky. 

The  season  was  intensely  hot,  and  gendered  a 
fever  fatal  to  the  crusaders  who  were  gathered  in 
southern  Italy.  Among  its  victims  was  Ludwig, 
leaving  his  faithful  spouse  to  keep  his  memory  re- 
vered by  her  refusal  to  marry  any  one  of  the  numerous 
kings  who  were  attracted  to  her  feet.  Many  bishops 
and  thousands  of  pilgrims  succumbed  to  this  plague. 
Frederick  sailed,  but  only  to  return  in  three  days, 
seeking  hospital  in  Otranto. 

Pope  Gregory  IX.  fulminated  against  Frederick  all 
the  terrors  of  his  personal  scorn  and  ecclesiastical 
vengeance.  From  his  pulpit  he  pictured  him  "  break- 
ing all  his  promises,  bursting  every  bond,  trampling 
underfoot  the  fear  of  God,  despising  all  reverence  for 
Jesus  Christ,  scorning  the  censures  of  the  church, 


Papal  Aiiathcvia  a/Frederick.         317 

deserting  the  Christian  army,  abandoning  the  Holy- 
Land  to  unbehevers,  to  his  own  disgrace  and  that 
of  all  Christendom  withdrawing  to  the  luxury  and 
wonted  delights  of  his  kingdom,  and  seeking  to  palli- 
ate his  oflfence  by  frixolous  excuses  of  simulated 
sickness."  Tlien,  while  the  cathedral  bells  were 
clanging  a  demoniacal  accompaniment  to  what  was 
transpiring  beneath  them,  the  clergy  stood  with 
lighted  torches  around  the  altar.  Gregory  invoked 
the  eternal  curse  of  God  upon  his  imperial  victim. 
The  clergy  dashed  their  torches  and  extinguished 
them  upon  the  floor,  in  token  of  the  "  blackness  of 
darkness  forever"  which  should  settle  upon  the  em- 
peror's soul. 

The  news  of  this  anathema  excited  the  minds  of 
the  common  people  to  such  a  degree  that  they  saw 
all  sorts  of  signs  of  Heaven's  disapproval  of  the 
crowned  Judas  ;  such  as  bloody  crosses,  on  which  the 
Saviour  was  dying  afresh,  "  as  if  laying  a  complaint 
before  each  and  every  Christian,"  Frederick  made  a 
quick  retort  to  the  papal  fulmination,  in  which  he  ad- 
vised all  temporal  princes  to  beware  of  the  unscrupu- 
lous domination  of  the  Roman  hierarchy.  He  closed 
a  letter  to  the  princes  of  Europe  with  these  words  of 
an  old  couplet : 

"  Give  heed  when  neighboring  houses  burn, 
For  next,  perhaps,  may  be  your  turn." 

The  Pope,  having  generated  a  fresh  supply  of  gall, 
discharged  it  in  an  interdict  by  which  all  subjects  of 
Frederick  should  be  deprived  of  the  ministrations  of 
religion. 


3i8  The  Sixth  Crusade. 

The  emperor,  in  order  to  prove  the  injustice  of  the 
Pope's  assault  upon  him  and  the  falsity  of  the  ac- 
cusation that  he  had  feigned  sickness,  prepared  to 
resume  the  crusade,  taking,  however,  his  own  time 
and  way.  His  armaments  Vv^ere  repaired.  He  sum- 
moned all  the  dignitaries  of  his  kingdom  to  meet  him 
at  Baroli  (April,  1228).  There,  in  the  presence  of  a 
vast  multitude,  he  declared  his  will  regarding  the 
succession  in  the  event  of  his  not  returning  alive, 
and  exhorted  his  people  to  live  in  peace  during  his 
absence.  The  Pope  now  became  not  less  violent  in 
denouncing  the  crusade  than  he  had  been  previously 
in  urging  it,  on  the  ground  that  its  leader  was  ex- 
communicate. He  refused  to  recognize  it  as  a  holy 
war,  and  stigmatized  it  as  an  expedition  of  piracy. 

With  a  small  army  of  six  hundred  knights  Fred- 
erick sailed  for  Acre  (September,  1228).  Two  Fran- 
ciscan monks  in  a  swift  bark  outsped  him,  and  aroused 
Palestine  against  the  coming  of  such  a  champion. 
The  partisans  of  John  of  Brienne  refused  to  recog- 
nize the  kingship  of  his  son-in-law.  Templars  and 
Hospitallers  were  jealous  of  the  new  hand  in  affairs, 
and  refused  to  serve  under  him. 

Frederick  then  pursued  his  old  friendship  with 
Malek-Kamel.  Speaking  Arabic,  he  discussed  with 
the  emirs  philosophy  and  astrology,  and  sent  difificult 
questions  to  the  sultan,  reminding  the  chroniclers  of 
the  converse  of  Solomon  and  the  Queen  of  Sheba. 
The  ladies  of  the  Christian  and  Moslem  courts 
mingled,  say  the  papal  apologists,  to  the  mutual  dis- 
advantage of  the  morals  of  both.  The  emperor  de- 
sired to  make  a  pious  pilgrimage  to  the  Jordan.     The 


Frederick  A  cq it  ires  Jcriisa lem.        319 

Templars  sent  a  letter  to  the  sultan,  suggesting  his 
capture.  The  sultan  delivered  the  missive  into  the 
hands  of  Frederick. 

Such  exchange  of  courtesies  was  only  preliminary 
to  a  treaty  by  which  the  astuteness  of  the  emperor 
won  the  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  without  drawing  his 
sword.  It  was  stipulated  that  Bethlehem,  Nazareth, 
and  the  Holy  City,  with  the  exception  of  the  Temple 
Mount,  which  was  occupied  by  the  mosque  of  Omar, 
should  be  given  to  the  Christians  for  ten  years.  In 
a  letter  to  the  King  of  England  Frederick  wrote  how, 
"  in  a  few  days,  by  a  miracle  rather  than  by  strength, 
that  business  hath  been  brought  to  a  conclusion  which 
for  a  length  of  time  past  many  chiefs  and  rulers  of 
the  world,  among  the  multitude  of  nations,  have 
never  been  able  till  now  to  accomplish  by  force, 
however  great,  nor  by  fear." 

The  fury  of  the  papal  party  knew  no  bounds. 
That  the  Infidel  should  retain  a  spot  for  worship  was 
in  their  eyes  a  sacrilege  ;  that  a  man  under  papal  dis- 
pleasure should  be  recognized  as  king  in  Jerusalem 
was  an  impiety  which  Heaven  should  punish.  The 
city  of  Jerusalem  was  put  under  the  ban.  Pilgrims 
were  forbidden  by  the  Holy  Father  to  pray  at  the 
sepulchre  of  our  Lord,  for  which  purpose,  with  the 
Pope's  encouragement,  they  had  left  their  homes, 
and  in  many  cases  sacrificed  their  earthly  all. 

Frederick  repaired  in  great  state  to  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  for  his  coronation  (March  18, 
1229).  No  priest  ventured  to  celebrate  the  mass  or 
pronounce  a  blessing  upon  the  accursed  of  the  church  ; 
the  silence  was  unbroken   except   by  the  clang  of 


320  The  Sixth  Crusade. 

armor ;  the  images  of  the  apostles  were  veiled  that 
they  might  not  look  upon  the  reprobate.  Frederick 
took  the  crown  from  the  altar  with  his  own  hands  and 
placed  it  upon  his  head ;  then  was  read  in  his  name  a 
formal  exculpation  of  the  Pope  for  his  persecution, 
on  the  ground  of  the  Holy  Father's  ignorance  of  his 
motives  and  conduct ;  he  also  announced  his  humili- 
ation before  God  and  His  vicar  for  his  crown.  With 
more  catholicity  he  visited  the  same  day  the  mosque 
of  Omar.  A  muezzin,  whose  station  was  near  the 
emperor's  house,  by  order  of  the  kadi  omitted  the 
usual  call  to  prayer,  lest  it  should  give  offence  to  his 
Christian  Majesty.  Frederick  gently  rebuked  the 
Moslem  official :  "  You  are  wrong  to  neglect,  on  my 
account,  your  duty,  your  law,  and  your  religion.  If 
you  should  visit  my  realm,  you  would  find  no  such 
respectful  deference."  A  priest  had  brought  into  the 
mosque  a  copy  of  the  Gospels.  Frederick  rebuked 
this  as  an  insult  to  his  allies,  saying,  "  Here  we  are 
all  the  servants  of  the  sultan ;  it  is  he  that  has  restored 
to  us  our  churches."  The  emperor  then  retired  to 
Acre.  The  papal  interdict  upon  all  people  among 
whom  he  should  find  abode  followed  him.  The 
churches  of  Acre  were  unopened ;  the  sick  were  re- 
fused consolation  in  their  homes,  and  the  dead  were 
buried,  without  funeral  service,  in  the  fields. 

At  this  juncture  news  from  Europe  urged  the  em- 
peror's return  home.  John  of  Brienne,  his  father- 
in-law,  was  ravaging  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  The 
Pope  was  filling  all  Christendom  with  denunciations, 
and  plotting  that  the  imperial  crown  itself  might  be 


Retu  rn  of  Frede  rick.  3  2 1 

taken  from  the  head  of  the  man  who,  by  the  treaty 
with  the  Moslems,  had  effected  "  reconcihation  of 
Christ  and  Belial."  The  Moslem  world  simultane- 
ously rang  with  as  bitter  denunciation  of  the  act  of 
Malek-Kamel  in  surrendering  the  sacred  city. 

Thus,  amid  the  universal  confusion  produced  by 
his  aim  to  establish  peace,  Frederick  returned  to  the 
West.  With  a  popularity  which  the  ban  of  Rome 
could  not  destroy,  after  crushing  his  enemies  in  the 
field  he  engaged  in  the  work  of  giving  to  his  people 
better  laws,  and  stimulating  the  new  civilization 
which  was  everywhere  appearing  as  the  Dark  Ages 
were  wearing  away. 

With  the  retirement  of  Frederick  from  Palestine 
the  Christians  were  reduced  to  utmost  extremity. 
Notwithstanding  the  treaty,  constant  collisions  oc- 
curred between  the  Moslem  and  Christian  bigots. 
The  great  bell  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
often  rang  its  alarm.  The  pilgrims  generally  sought 
safety  in  the  fortress  of  David,  or  in  more  obscure 
retreats  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jerusalem ;  their 
cries  again  afflicted  their  brethren  in  Europe. 

The  Pope  convoked  an  assembly  at  Spoleto,  at 
which  it  was  determined  to  ignore  Frederick's  truce 
with  the  Sultan  of  Cairo,  and  renew  the  war.  Special 
agents  of  the  holy  see  visited  the  various  courts ; 
monks  and  orators  went  everywhere,  preaching  the 
necessity  of  dyeing  the  cross  anew  in  the  blood  of 
unbelievers.  The  followers  of  St.  Francis  and  St. 
Dominic  were  diverted  from  their  legitimate  and 
honorable  work  of  charity  to  act  as  the  collectors  of 


322  The  Sixth  Crusade. 

a  war  fund.     Troubadours,  headed  by  Thibaut  V., 
King  of  Navarre,  sang : 

"  Heaven  is  closed  to  those  who  will  not  cross  the  sea," 

and  urged  in  rhythmic  piety  the  exchange  of  earthly 
amours  for  the  service  of  the  Virgin : 

"  My  Lady  lost,  Lady,  be  thou  my  aid." 

The  war  upon  the  helpless  Albigenses  having 
come  to  an  end  from  the  extermination  of  its  victims, 
many  soldiers  were  impatient  of  new  service  to  ap- 
pease their  sharply  whetted  appetite  for  blood.  Thus 
a  multitude  was  enrolled  for  a  new  crusade. 

But  a  diverting  cry  came  from  a  different  direction. 
The  Latin  empire  at  Constantinople  was  falling. 
First  Lascaris  and  then  Vataces  had  for  years  kept 
the  Greeks  well  in  hand,  and  they  now  assailed  the 
walls  of  the  capital.  John  of  Brienne  was  called  to 
the  tottering  throne.  As  everywhere  during  his  long 
career,  so  now  at  the  age  of  eighty  years  this  man 
showed  splendid  qualities  on  the  field,  but  died  with- 
out effectually  driving  away  the  foe.  His  son-in- 
law,  Baldwin,  succeeded  him  to  a  barren  sceptre,  and 
visited  Europe  in  piteous  entreaty  for  help. 

This  call  would  have  been  sufficient  in  itself  to 
divert  much  of  the  energy  of  the  crusaders;  but  the 
Pope,  now  far  gone  in  senility,  further  embarrassed 
affairs  by  commanding  the  warriors  to  return  to  their 
homes.  This  order  went  far  towards  depreciating 
the  Pope  in  popular  reverence.  Those  assembled  at 
Lyons  replied  to  the  papal  message  :  "  Whence  arises 
this  fickleness  in  the  Roman  court?     According  to 


Poptclar  Disconlent  zvith  the  Pope.      323 

the  promises  of  the  preachers  we  have  prepared  our- 
selves in  God's  behalf;  we  have  sold  or  pledged  our 
lands,  taken  leave  of  friends,  sent  our  money  to  tlie 
Holy  Land  in  advance.  Why  do  our  pastors  change 
their  tone  and  rise  against  us?"  With  difficulty 
were  they  restrained  from  doing  violence  to  the  papal 
agents.  The  Pope,  however,  remained  inexorable, 
and  threatened  all  who  proceeded  with  the  crusade 
that  "  they  should  not  enjoy  the  indulgence  for  their 
sins  which  had  been  granted  them."  Some  urged 
the  sacredness  of  their  crusaders'  vow.  This  scruple 
the  Pope  readily  turned  to  the  account  of  his  treasury 
by  absolving  such  from  their  pledge  upon  payment 
of  a  sum  of  money  equal  to  that  required  to  provision 
themselves  for  the  voyage,  whence  "  great  scandal 
and  schism  arose  among  the  people." 

The  Emperor  Frederick  also  proposed  that  the 
expedition  should  be  postponed  until,  with  the  rallied 
forces  of  his  empire,  he  might  give  it  better  assurance 
of  success.  Pope  and  emperor  revived  their  strifes, 
and  Italy  was  turned  into  pandemonium.  A  few  of 
the  more  ardent  managed  to  escape  the  entangle- 
ments at  home  for  more  honorable  adventures  in  the 
East.  The  King  of  Navarre,  the  dukes  of  Brittany 
and  Burgundy,  reached  Syria  (August,  1239)  and 
performed  exploits  sufficient  to  more  thoroughly 
enrage,  but  not  to  awe,  the  Moslems.  In  1240  Rich- 
ard of  Cornwall,  with  a  band  of  English,  sailing  in 
spite  of  the  Pope's  proiiibition,  landed  at  Acre,  made 
several  raids  through  Turkish  territory,  and  returned, 
having  gained  nothing  but  a  continuance  of  the  truce 
with  the  sultan. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

BETWEEN    THE  SIXTH    AND   SEVENTH    CRUSADES — 
THE    TARTARS — THE    CARISMIAN    INVASION. 

Y  a  strange  providence  the  sacred  places 
of  Palestine  were  destined  to  fall  for  a 
while  into  other  hands  than  any  of  the 
former  great  contestants,  Christian,  Sara- 
cen, or  Turk. 
The  most  astounding  events  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury were  in  connection  with  the  great  Tartar  irrup- 
tion. The  Mogul  hosts  under  Genghis  Khan,  or 
''king  of  kings,"  had  broken  eastward  across  the  Great 
Wall  of  China,  and  poured  a  tide  of  desolation  over 
that  ancient  empire.  As  the  bloody  waves  returned, 
they  moved  with  undiminished  force  westward  and 
southward,  flooding  all  Turkestan,  and  all  lands  to  the 
borders  of  India  and  the  Persian  Gulf.  These  armies, 
numbering  seven  hundred  thousand  warriors,  coura- 
geous, remorseless,  and  cruel  as  tigers,  were  met  by 
five  hundred  thousand  under  Mohammed,  Sultan  of 
Carismia.  But  even  this  latter  tremendous  host 
could  not  withstand  the  impact  of  the  Tartars. 
Under  Octal,  son  of  Genghis  Khan,  they  crossed  the 
Volga  and  conquered  vast  sections  of  Russia,  laying 

324 


Ta  rta  rs —  Ca  rism  ia  7is.  325 


Moscow  and  Kiow  in  ashes.  Poland  fell  next.  Even 
the  Baltic  monumented  the  fury  of  the  Tartars  with 
a  circle  of  ruined  towers  and  devastated  country 
which  marked  its  shores. 

Matthew  Paris  describes  the  terror  these  Tartars 
inspired  even  in  England,  where  they  were  thought 
to  be  "  a  people  of  monstrous  shape,  drinking  blood 
warm   from   the   veins  of  their  victims,  eating  raw 
flesh,  even  of  human  beings,  mounted  upon  enormous 
horses,   which   fed   upon  leaves  and  trees."     Their 
home  was  presumed  to  be  the  Caspian  Mountams,  the 
tops  of  which  God  had  united  and  thus  shut  them  m, 
until  now  they  were  let  loose  to  be  the  scourge  of 
mankind.     The  extreme  terror  spread  by  the  rumor 
of  their  coming  was  such  that  the  herring  fisheries 
off  Yarmouth  were  abandoned,  lest  the  sailors  should 
be  caught  by  these  monsters,  who  could  sweep  the 
waves  with  their  ox-hide  boats.    Their  skill  in  swim- 
ming was  of  such  renown  that  the  lone  fisherman  of 
Friesland  was  alert  lest  he  should  "  catch  a  Tartar." 
At  the  battle  of  Liegnitz  the  prowess  of  Europe 
proved  impotent  against  the  Tartar  invasion  which 
swept  Hungary.     Settled  communities  were  annihi- 
lated; nomadic  peoples  sought  safety  in  migrating. 

The  Carismians,  beaten  back  by  the  Tartars,  spread 
themselves  through  Asia  Minor  and  Syria  ;  but  these 
fucritives  were  almost  as  terrible  a  menace  as  their 
pu'i-suers  had  been.  They  carried  with  them  the 
spoil  of  the  lands  they  traversed.  Dreading  death 
less  than  the  disgrace  of  retreat,  trained  to  neither 
give  nor  take  quarter,  waving  from  their  spear-heads 
the  hair  of  the  slaughtered,  they  assaulted  all  peoples, 


326  After  the  Sixth  Crusade. 

Mussulmans  and  Christians  alike.  These  nations 
were  forced  by  the  new  menace  to  lay  aside  their 
ancient  animosities  and  unite  in  a  struggle  for  exis- 
tence against  the  common  foe. 

The  Sultan  of  Cairo,  however,  deemed  that  his 
policy  lay  in  a  different  direction,  and  made  alliance 
with  the  invaders,  promising  to  them  the  free  spoil 
of  Palestine  in  exchange  for  the  immunity  of  his 
Egyptian  possessions.  Twenty  thousand  Carismian 
horsemen  ravaged  Tripoli  and  Galilee  and  appeared 
suddenly  before  Jerusalem.  The  inhabitants  fled ; 
the  few  who  remained  were  indiscriminately  massa- 
cred. Finding  nothing  left  to  appease  the  appetite 
of  their  swords,  the  conquerors  unfurled  the  banner 
of  the  cross  from  the  walls  and  rang  the  bells  of  the 
churches,  thus  luring  back  to  the  city  a  multitude  of 
the  fugitives,  upon  whom  they  satiated  their  cruelty. 
Seven  thousand  of  these  helpless  creatures  perished 
at  the  gates.  Not  satisfied  with  the  spoil  of  the  liv- 
ing, the  Carismians  rifled  the  abodes  of  the  dead. 
Sepulchres  which  had  been  respected  by  the  Moslem 
occupants  for  a  century  were  ruthlessly  despoiled. 
The  contents  of  the  alleged  tomb  of  Christ,  together 
with  those  of  the  kings  of  Jerusalem  from  the  days 
of  Godfrey,  were  given  to  the  flames. 

The  Christian  and  Moslem  armies  massed  against 
this  remorseless  foe  in  the  neighborhood  of  Gaza. 
For  two  days  there  raged  as  fearful  carnage  as  has 
ever  dyed  the  pages  of  history;  but  nothing  could 
stay  this  host  of  fiends.  Thirty  thousand  men,  who 
had  entered  the  battle  with  prayers  in  the  name  of 
Jesus  or  Mohammed,  perished  or  were  taken  pris- 


Carismians  at  Jerusalem  and  Gaza.    327 


oners.  But  four  Templars,  twenty-six  Hospital- 
lers, and  three  Teutonic  Knights  remained  to  tell 
the  story  of  their  useless  valor.  The  heroism  of 
Gautier  of  Brienne,  Lord  of  JufTa,  deserves  to  be 
chronicled.  Captured  Id}-  the  enem}',  he  was  fastened 
upon  a  cross  and  brought  close  to  the  walls  of  the 
town  which  the  Carismian.s  were  besieging.  He  was 
offered  his  life  on  condition  of  his  counselling  the 
place  to  surrender.  To  the  people  who  thronged 
the  walls  he  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  "  Your  duty  is 
to  fight;  mine  is  to  die  for  you  and  Jesus  Christ." 

But  the  Carismians,  tiiough  they  were  able  to  con- 
quer, had  no  ability  to  hold  their  conquests.  Like 
most  semicivilized  hordes,  they  reaped  what  they 
found,  but  had  no  enterprise  to  sow  again  for  other 
harvests.  They  quickly  quarrelled  with  their  ally, 
the  Sultan  of  Cairo.  New  combinations  were  made 
against  them,  and  in  a  few  years  they  disappeared 
from  history,  merged,  doubtless,  with  other  peoples 
whose  home  lands  they  shared. 


THE   SEVENTH    CRUSADE. 


CHAPTER  XLHI. 

ST.    LOUIS. 


HE  news  of  the  Carismian  invasion  of 
Palestine  reduced  Europe  to  a  condition 
of  panic.  It  came  on  the  heels  of  other 
adversities,  which  had  shaken  the  stoutest 
hearts.  The  Latin  empire  at  Constanti- 
nople, as  we  have  noted,  was  again  on  the  verge  of 
falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Greeks.  The  Tartars 
were  ravaging  the  Danube,  and  threatening  the  do- 
main of  the  Emperor  Frederick  II.  Terror  paralyzed 
trade,  travel,  and  social  intercourse  everywhere  ;  even 
in  Italy  and  along  the  borders  of  France  fear  fed  the 
imagination  that  an  army  of  demi-demons  was  about 
to  appear.  The  rustling  of  the  woods,  the  soughing 
of  the  winds,  forest  fires,  the  dust  raised  by  storms, 
strange  cloud  shapes  on  the  horizon,  were  omens,  if  not 
the  signs,  of  the  advance  of  this  horde  let  loose  from 
hell.     Pope  Innocent  IV.  called  a  council  at  Lyons. 

328 


hmocent  IV.  and  Frederick.  329 

In  his  opening  address  he  spoke  of  the  five  wounds 
of  the  Saviour,  which  he  hkened  to  five  griefs  that 
afflicted  him  as  the  Vicegerent  of  Christ.  These  were 
the  Tartar  menace,  the  Greek  schism,  the  Carismian 
conquest  of  Palestine,  the  relaxation  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline  and  progress  of  heresy,  and,  finally,  as  if  it 
were  the  climax  of  the  woes  of  Christendom,  the  ob- 
duracy of  the  Emperor  Frederick  II.  in  opposing  the 
papal  schemes.  The  Holy  Father  could  weep  over 
the  wickedness  of  Tartars,  Carismians,  and  Moslems, 
but  he  could  only  rage  against  Frederick.  His  spirit 
communicated  itself  to  his  prelates.  Under  his  di- 
rection they  passed  resolutions  advising  the  Germans 
to  dig  trenches  and  build  walls  against  the  Tartars ; 
they  also  calmly  proposed  a  crusade  against  the  In- 
fidels ;  but,  with  more  evidence  of  deep  feeling,  they 
bent  to  the  floor,  dashed  out  the  lights  of  their  can- 
dles, and  repeated  with  sepulchral  voices  the  amen 
to  the  papal  anathema  of  the  foremost  Christian 
monarch  in  the  world.  The  Pope's  fulmination  con- 
cluded with  these  words :  "  I  forbid  any,  under  pain 
of  excommunication,  to  henceforth  yield  him  obedi- 
ence. I  command  the  electors  to  elect  another  em- 
peror, and  I  reserve  to  myself  the  right  of  disposing 
of  his  kingdom  of  Sicily."  This  was  the  glory  of 
the  so-called  Ecumenical  Council  of  Lyons. 

Frederick,  on  hearing  of  the  outrage  perpetrated 
upon  him,  called  for  his  crown,  and,  placing  it  upon 
his  head,  exclaimed,*  "  There  it  is  ;  and  before  it  shall 
be  wrested  from  me  my  enemies  shall  know  the  ter- 
ror of  my  arms.  Let  this  pontiff  tremble,  who  has 
broken   every  tie  that  bound  me  to  him."     From 


33^  The  Seventh  Crusade. 


that  day,  as  history  shows,  the  popes  lost  power  ever 
again  to  lead  united  Europe. 

But  for  the  pious  zeal  of  one  man,  it  is  not  prob- 
able that  another  crusading  host  would  ever  have  set 
out  against  the  Moslem. 

The  hero  of  the  seventh  crusade  was  Louis  IX., 
the  "  Good  St.  Louis  "  of  France.  He  was  the  son 
of  Louis  VIII.,  who,  Guizot  says,  "  added  to  the  his- 
tory of  France  no  glory,  save  that  of  having  been  the 
son  of  Philip  Augustus,  the  husband  of  Blanche  of 
Castile,  and  the  father  of  St.  Louis." 

Blanche  of  Castile  was  a  woman  remarkable  for 
her  personal  beauty  and  queenly  bearing.  She  knew 
how  to  unite  dignity  of  mien  and  elegance  of  estate 
with  that  suavity  which  wins  the  hearts  of  all.  Ac- 
cording to  a  contemporary,  Matthew  Paris,  she  was 
"  the  most  discreet  woman  of  her  time,  with  a  mind 
singularly  quick  and  penetrating,  and  with  a  man's 
heart  to  leaven  her  woman's  sex  and  ideas;  person- 
ally magnanimous,  of  indomitable  energy,  sovereign 
mistress  in  all  the  afifairs  of  her  age,  worthy  to  be 
compared  with  Semiramis,  the.  most  eminent  of  her 
sex."  The  only  weakness  remembered  of  Queen 
Blanche  was  one  which  might  be  attributed  to  the 
intensity  of  her  maternal  affection.  She  was  rudely 
jealous  of  Marguerite  when  the  latter  became  wife  of 
her  son  Louis,  and  resented  the  least  absorption  of 
her  son's  attention  and  love.  She  was  possessed 
of  decided  ability  for  government,  and  at  the  death 
of  her  husband,  Louis  VIII.  (1226),  assumed  the  di- 
rection of  afifairs  as  the  guardian  of  her  son,  then  a 
lad  of  eleven  years. 


kSV.  Louis — Personal  Quaii ties.         331 


Louis  IX.  is  described  as  very  handsome,  his  fea- 
tures of  ahnost  feminine  deUcacy,  his  iiair  hght,  long, 
and  flowing.  He  was  extremely  courteous,  gentle,  and 
companionable.  One  might  have  suspected  weak- 
ness from  the  softness  of  his  manners,  until  it  was 
observed  that  he  maintained  the  same  quiet  demeanor 
while  shrewdly  watching  the  chicanery  of  the  court 
and  while  planning  the  most  warlike  and  desperate 
expeditions  against  his  foes.  When  La  Marche  re- 
belled and  insulted  his  Majesty,  Louis  made  no  retort, 
but  deliberated  regarding  him  with  his  counsellors 
without  apparent  resentment,  and  laid  plans  so  shrewd 
and  far-reaching  that  they  conquered  both  the  rebel's 
arms  and  hatred.  The  kings  of  France  had  always 
been  at  variance,  often  at  swords'  points,  with  the 
great  feudal  barons  of  the  realm;  but  in  1243  Louis 
made  such  arrangement  with  them  as  won  their  com- 
plete fidelity. 

The  moral  qualities  of  Louis  IX.,  as  well  as  his  re- 
pute for  sound  judgment,  led  to  his  selection  by  for- 
eigners to  arbitrate  their  disputes,  as  when  Henry 
III.  of  England  and  his  barons  submitted  their  dif- 
ferences to  the  French  king's  opinion.  He  was  by 
impulse  and  principle  a  philanthropist,  loving  the 
people  of  all  conditions.  The  sick  domestics  of  the 
palace  were  often  nursed  by  the  royal  hand.  Wher- 
ever he  went  his  servants  were  ordered  to  distribute 
sufficient  money  to  provide  for  the  needs  of  one  hun- 
dred poor  persons,  that  the  people  might  not  feel  the 
shadow  of  royalty  without  its  sunshine.  The  chroni- 
clers delight  in  picturing  the  monarch  under  the 
broad  tree,  listening  to  the  complaints  of  a  crowd  of 


2,3^  The  Seve7ith  Crusade. 

his  humblest  subjects.  That  justice  and  mercy 
might  extend  beyond  his  personal  supervision,  he 
appointed  "  restitution  offices,"  where  the  best  of 
men  granted  rehearing  of  any  case  in  which  a  worsted 
litigant  deemed  himself  injured  by  the  letter  of  the 
law.  This,  perhaps,  is  the  first  institution  in  the 
spirit  of  our  modern  courts  of  equity.  During  an 
illness,  in  which  he  thought  he  might  die,  he  sum- 
moned his  son  Louis  and  said,  "  Fair  son,  I  pray  thee 
make  thyself  beloved  of  the  people  of  thy  kingdom, 
for  verily  I  would  rather  a  Scot  should  come  and 
govern  our  people  well  and  loyally  than  have  thee 
govern  them  ill." 

The  piety  of  Louis  shone  in  his  care  of  religious 
houses  and  in  the  establishment  of  hospitals,  especially 
for  leprosy,  a  disease  which  was  brought  into  Europe 
by  pilgrims  returning  from  the  East.  Churches  were 
multiplied  and  ornamented,  for,  said  the  monarch, 
"  the  most  sure  means  to  avoid  perishing  like  the  im- 
pious is  to  love  and  enrich  the  place  in  which  dwells 
the  glory  of  the  Lord." 

It  is  not  to  the  discredit  of  the  personal  character 
of  Louis  IX.  that  he  was  not  entirely  free  from  the 
bigotry  and  superstition  of  his  age.  He  treated 
heresy  as  of  the  nature  of  rebellion,  and  did  not  stay 
the  heavy  hand  of  persecution  in  some  instances. 
He  especially  revered  relics.  When  a  nail,  which 
was  believed  to  have  been  one  of  those  that  pierced 
the  hands  of  Jesus,  was  temporarily  missing  from  its 
casket,  he  cried,  "  I  would  rather  that  the  best  city 
in  my  kingdom  had  been  swallowed  up  in  the  earth." 
With  joy  he  paid  a  large  price  to  Baldwin  II.,  the 


Piciy  of  Louis — Takes  the  Cross.      2i2)'h 


Latin  King  of  Constantinople,  for  our  Saviour's 
crown  of  thorns.  The  "  Holy  Chapel,"  which  he 
built  to  shield  the  precious  relics,  still  remains  one  of 
the  finest  monuments  of  mediaeval  times.  In  private 
life  Louis  would  have  preferred  the  daily  routine  of 
a  monk  to  the  diversions  of  the  court.  He  prided 
himself  on  the  hard  haircloth  worn  next  his  skin  as  a 
token  of  perpetual  humility  more  than  he  cared  for 
his  royal  robe.  At  his  waist  hung,  instead  of  silken 
tassels,  a  scourge  of  iron  chains,  which  drew  blood 
from  his  back  once  a  week.  He  never  laughed  on  a 
Friday.  Except  where  the  dignity  of  his  throne  re- 
quired public  defence,  Louis  scarcely  maintained  his 
royal  self-respect,  so  meek  did  he  try  to  be.  A 
common  woman  once  brazenly  said  to  him,  "  You 
are  unfit  for  a  king  of  France,  fit  only  to  be  a  king 
of  monks  and  priests."  Louis  humbly  replied,  "  You 
say  the  truth,"  and  with  a  smile  gave  her  a  handful 
of  money. 

As  early  as  1239,  when  Louis  IX.  was  twenty-four 
years  of  age,  he  manifested  great  zeal  for  the  cru- 
sades, and  sent  Amaury  de  Montfort  to  fight  as  his 
personal  representative  on  the  field.  Five  years  later 
(1244)  he  was  afflicted  with  such  serious  illness  that 
at  one  moment  he  was  believed  to  be  dead.  The 
watchers  were  startled  by  his  sepulchral  voice  :  "  He, 
by  God's  grace,  hath  visited  me — He  who  cometh 
from  on  high  hath  recalled  me  from  among  the 
dead."  Reviving  from  his  swoon,  he  bade  the  Bish- 
op of  Paris  place  upon  his  shoulder  the  cross  of  the 
voyage  over  the  sea.  Three  years  passed,  during 
which  he  seemingly  forgot  the  vow,  but  an  incident 


334  ^^^^  Seventh  Crusade. 


proved  that  the  holy  enthusiasm  still  burned  in  his 
heart.  Allusion  being  made  one  day  to  the  cross  he 
wore  as  having  been  assumed  at  a  moment  when  he 
was  of  wavering  mind  through  bodil}^  weakness,  the 
king  instantly  undid  the  emblem  from  his  shoulder 
and  gave  it  to  the  Bishop  of  Paris ;  he  then  added, 
"  Now  assuredly  I  am  in  my  senses.  He  that  know- 
eth  all  things  knoweth  that  until  that  cross  is  replaced 
upon  my  shoulder  no  food  shall  enter  my  lips." 

At  this  time  Pope  Innocent  IV.  was  attempting  to 
arouse  Europe  to  a  new  crusade,  but  since  his  greater 
zeal  was  for  a  crusade  against  Frederick  II.,  the  holy 
war  lacked  recruits.  Germany  was  in  the  midst  of 
the  civil  dissension  which  Innocent  had  stirred  up 
by  acknowledging  his  subservient  tool,  Henry,  Land- 
grave of  Hesse,  as  emperor.  Italy  was  rent  with  the 
contention  between  Guelph  and  Ghibelline,  fostered 
by  the  same  mistaken  judgment  of  Innocent.  Eng- 
land was  at  war  with  Scotland  and  Wales.  Frederick 
II.,  in  order  to  avert  the  thickening  disasters  from 
his  realm,  proposed  to  personally  abdicate  the  im- 
perial throne  in  favor  of  his  son  Conrad,  and  himself 
to  lead  an  army  to  Palestine,  with  an  oath  never  to 
return,  if  even  this  personal  sacrifice  would  appease 
the  papal  resentment.  Louis  IX.  besought  Ihe  Holy 
Father  to  accede  to  this  proposal  and  to  assume  a 
different  attitude  towards  a  Christian  monarch,  but 
Innocent  was  obdurate  to  all  entreaties.  The  church 
of  Christ  was  ruled  by  the  hatred  and  wrath  of  one 
who,  above  all  men,  should  have  remembered  the 
Lord's  prayer,  "  Forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  for- 
give those  who  trespass  against  us."     The  penalty 


Louis's  Zeal  for  Cricsade.  335 

of  breaking  the  precepts  of  human  wisdom  and  divine 
charity  at  length  fell  upon  him.  The  Pope  lost  the 
sympathy  of  the  kingdoms ;  even  the  French  nobles, 
though  jealous  of  Germany,  formed  a  league  for 
their  defence  against  papal  encroachments.  This, 
if  not  the  origin  of,  greatly  favored  the  movement 
for  Gallican  liberties,  which  has  continued  ever  since. 

Louis  IX.  took  upon  himself  the  duty  of  leading 
the  crusade ;  he  convoked  a  parliament  of  the  digni- 
taries of  his  realm,  and  by  his  eloquence  moved  the 
princes  and  nobles  to  follow  his  example.  His 
queen,  Marguerite,  with  many  of  her  proudest  ladies, 
assumed  the  cross.  Among  the  warriors  was  the 
Prince  de  Joinville,  the  endeared  companion  and  ad- 
viser of  the  king,  to  whose  prolific  and  graceful  pen 
the  world  is  indebted  for  the  history  of  Louis's  time 
and  personal  ad\'entures.  Those  who  did  not  at 
once  volunteer  to  join  the  crusade  were  variously 
persuaded  by  tiie  zeal  of  the  monarch.  It  was  the 
custom  for  the  French  kings  at  certain  solemnities  to 
present  their  courtiers  with  mantles,  which  they  put 
on  in  his  presence  and  wore  afterwards  as  the  sign 
of  royal  favor.  Louis  observed  the  custom  on 
Christmas  eve.  As  the  guests  marched  from  the 
shaded  robing- room  to  the  lighted  chapel  they  were 
amazed  to  discover  the  cross  of  voyage  sewed  upon 
every  man's  shoulder.  The  courtiers  laughed  at  the 
joke  perpetrated  upon  them,  but,  feeling  its  signifi- 
cance, yielded  to  the  royal  will  and  honored  their 
investment  by  taking  the  crusaders'  vow. 

The  example  of  the  king  aflfected  the  entire  popu- 
lation.     In  every  village  was  seen  the  procession  of 


^T,6  The  Seventh  Crusade, 


volunteers  seeking  the  blessing  of  the  altar  and  en- 
rolling themselves  under  their  lords.  Whole  terri- 
tories were  thus  stripped  of  their  defenders  and  even 
of  the  tillers  of  the  soil ;  rising  arts  were  bereft  of 
their  workmen.  France  was  despoiling  itself  for  the 
sake  of  an  idea.  Modern  utilitarianism  may  deride 
it,  but  our  sentiment  applauds  where  our  judgment 
condemns.     It  was  indeed  still  the  "  age  of  faith." 

In  June,  1248,  Louis  took  up  the  pilgrim  staff  to- 
gether with  the  oriflamme  of  France.  He  left  the 
kingdom  to  the  care  of  his  mother,  Blanche,  and  with 
his  wife  set  out  upon  what  proved  to  be  one  of  the 
most  romantic  and  tragic  of  adventures.  At  Lyons 
he  made  confession  to  the  Pope,  whom  he  again  un- 
availingly  entreated  to  be  at  peace  with  Frederick. 
As  the  cavalcade  was  nearing  Avignon  his  men  were 
assaulted,  and  begged  to  be  permitted  to  avenge  the 
insult  by  an  attack  upon  that  city.  "  No,"  replied 
the  king ;  "  I  go  from  France  not  to  avenge  my  own 
injuries,  but  those  of  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  At 
Marseilles  a  similar  outrage  occurred.  The  king  re- 
fused to  retaliate,  saying,  **  God  forbid  that  Satan 
should  prevail,  for  he  is  angered  at  our  expedition 
and  is  seeking  to  put  obstacles  in  the  way." 

In  August  he  set  sail  from  Aigues-Mortes,  a  place 
he  had  purchased  and  in  whose  harbor  he  had  pre- 
pared his  fleet ;  he  here  diminished  his  host  by  dis- 
charging with  abundant  recompense  all  such  as  he 
deemed  not  of  the  right  sort  either  in  character  or 
pious  purpose.  As  the  French  had  no  experience 
in  navigation,  the  movement  of  the  fleet  was  com- 
mitted to  Genoese  captains.     Joinville's  experience 


Delay  at  Cyprus.  2>Z7 

will  be  appreciated  by  many  landsmen  :  "  A  great 
fool  is  he  who,  having  any  sin  on  his  soul,  places 
himself  in  such  danger;  for  if  he  goes  to  sleep  at 
night  he  cannot  be  certain  he  shall  not  find  himself 
at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  in  the  morning."  Landing 
in  Cyprus,  the  expedition  was  warmly  received  by 
the  king  of  the  island,  but  found  scanty  supply  of 
provisions.  Louis  appealed  to  the  Venetians,  who 
sent  him  much  corn  and  wine.  Frederick  II.,  learn- 
ing of  the  crusaders'  need,  also  sent  supplies.  Louis 
replied  with  thanks  to  the  emperor,  and  sent  another 
appeal  to  the  Pope  to  forego  his  wrath  upon  so  gen- 
erous a  friend  to  the  cause  of  the  Master;  but  it 
evoked  no  compassion  in  the  relentless  heart  of  the 
pontiff. 

Louis  was  prevailed  upon  to  spend  the  winter  in 
Cyprus,  under  pledge  of  the  Cypriotes  to  accompany 
him  in  the  spring.  Luxury  brought  relaxation  of 
discipline  and  all  its  accompanying  vices.  This  was 
followed  by  a  pest,  which  caused  the  death  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  knights.  During  the  winter  there 
arrived  an  embassy  of  Tartars,  who  announced  the 
conversion  to  Christianity  of  one  of  their  great 
princes,  and  solicited  alliance  with  the  French.  Louis 
apparently  credited  the  story,  and  sent  to  the  Tartar 
chief  a  scarlet  tent,  in  the  canvas  of  which  were 
wrought  in  silken  letters  many  texts  of  Scripture, 
which  it  was  hoped  might  assist  the  convert's  medi- 
tation. The  embassage  proved  to  be  a  ruse — doubt- 
less an  attempt  to  spy  out  the  destination  and  power 
of  the  crusaders. 

A  more  significant  overture  was  received  from  the 


338  The  Seventh  Crusade. 

Masters  of  the  Templars  and  Hospitallers,  who  pro- 
posed, rather  than  war,  to  open  negotiations  with  the 
Sultan  of  Cairo,  who  might  be  disposed  to  grant  more 
than  the  Christians  could  wrest  from  him.  This  Louis 
regarded  as  an  insult  to  his  prowess  and  vow. 

It  had  been  determined  to  strike  the  enemy  in 
Egypt.  Of  the  wisdom  of  this  project  few  were  per- 
suaded. The  Arabian  writers  speak  of  it  as  showing 
an  imbecile  mind.  Egypt  was  at  this  time  governed 
by  Negmeddin,  son  of  Malek-Kamel,  the  conqueror 
of  the  Christians  in  their  former  attempt  at  Damietta. 
This  chieftain  had  united  in  his  hand  all  the  Moslems 
from  the  Nile  to  the  Euphrates.  Aware  of  the  plans 
of  the  coming  invaders,  he  massed  a  great  fleet  to 
descend  the  Nile  and  meet  the  fleet  of  the  Christians, 
and  an  army  of  commensurate  proportions  to  guard 
the  banks. 

The  crusaders  sailed  from  Cyprus  with  eight  hun- 
dred vessels ;  these  carried  not  only  warriors  and  im- 
plements of  battle,  but  many  artisans  and  vast 
material  for  establishing  a  colony,  which  project  is 
regarded  even  by  those  who  deprecate  the  military 
assault  as  showing  the  wide  statesmanship  of  the 
French  king.  A  storm  scattered  the  fleet,  driving 
many  ships  against  the  coast  of  Syria,  and  compelling 
Louis  to  return  to  Cyprus  with  the  loss  of  half  his 
armament. 

A  second  attempt  was  more  successful,  and  the 
fleet  approached  the  walls  of  Damietta.  Joinville 
dilates  upon  the  magnificent  spectacle :  the  sea  cov- 
ered for  miles  with  the  ships,  whose  topmasts  gleamed 
with  the  sign  of  the  cross;  the  mouth  of  the  Nile 


Victory  at  Dafuietta.  339 


guarded  by  the  vessels  of  the  Moslem ;  the  shores 
lined  with  the  multitude  of  warriors  in  various  ac- 
coutrements, drawn  from  all  the  lands  of  the  Infidel ; 
the  very  sky  resounding  with  their  pagan  cries  and 
the  noise  of  their  trumpets  and  drums. 

At  break  of  the  next  day  the  French  began  the 
assault.  Queen  Marguerite's  bark  was  alone  left  at 
a  distance,  whence  she  might  watch  the  fight.  The 
knights  stood,  lance  in  hand,  beside  their  horses  on 
the  broad  barges,  some  of  which  were  propelled  by 
as  many  as  three  hundred  rowers.  At  word  of  com- 
mand the  fleet  seemed  to  be  lifted  by  the  innumer- 
able oars  and  to  be  fairly  hurled  upon  the  shore. 
Before  they  could  land  the  daylight  became  obscured 
with  showers  of  arrows,  javelins,  and  stones,  that 
poured  upon  them  from  the  banks.  For  a  moment 
the  fleet  was  retarded  by  the  deluge  of  missiles  that 
smote  the  rowers,  but  the  king's  quick  command  re- 
doubled their  strokes.  As  the  vessels  grounded  on 
the  beach  he  himself  led  the  assault,  leaping  into  the 
sea  shoulder-deep  with  sword  in  hand.  The  whole 
army  emulated  his  heroism,  and  with  the  cry,  "  Mont- 
joie!  St.  Denis!"  plunged  into  the  water.  The  at- 
tack was  as  when  the  sea  itself  assails  the  land  with 
tidal  wave.  The  Moslems  were  driven  back.  The 
crusaders  completed  their  array  on  solid  ground,  but 
scarcely  were  they  in  battle  order  before  the  Moslem 
cavalry  rode  down  upon  them  with  the  noise  and 
speed  of  a  sirocco  from  the  neighboring  desert.  Amid 
the  terrible  melee  Louis  bent  his  knees  a  moment  on 
the  sands,  anew  giving  himself  to  the  will  of  Heaven, 
then    dashed   into  the   thickest   of   the    fight.     The 


340  The  Seventh  Crusade. 

shore  ran  with  rills  of  blood,  which  incarnadined  the 
sea.  Steadily  the  oriflamme  of  France  mounted  the 
beach.  The  war-galleys  made  an  equally  furious 
assault  upon  the  Moslem  navy.  With  the  impetuous 
ramming  of  the  tough  prows  of  the  French  vessels 
many  a  ship  filled  with  Egyptian  warriors  was  sent 
to  the  bottom.  The  cross  gained  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  up  which  its  defenders  fled.  By  nightfall  the 
coast  and  both  banks  of  the  Nile  had  been  gained, 
and  under  the  stars  of  Egypt  the  Christian  camp  re- 
sounded with  the  Te  Deum  and  shouts  of  victory. 

The  joy  of  the  Christians  was  soon  mingled  with 
wonder.  The  horizon  to  the  south  of  them  suddenly 
seemed  on  fire.  The  scouts,  approaching  Damietta 
in  the  early  dawn,  discovered  that  its  walls  were  like 
the  crater  of  some  vast  volcano  pouring  up  clouds 
of  smoke  shot  through  with  flashes  of  fiame.  The 
gates  of  the  town  were  wide  open.  Entering  cau- 
tiously, they  found  the  streets  filled  with  newly 
slaughtered  multitudes.  It  would  seem  that  the 
panic  of  the  Moslems  had  left  them  neither  heart 
nor  wit  for  the  defence  of  their  stronghold.  In  the 
blindness  of  their  rage  they  had  put  to  death  multi- 
tudes of  Christians,  and  the  Christians,  in  the  frenzy 
of  their  despair,  had  slain  their  Moslem  neighbors. 
Fakr  Eddin,  the  commandant,  had  given  orders  to 
fire  the  houses,  mosques,  and  fortifications,  consum- 
ing everything,  that  the  crusaders  might  not  profit 
by  their  victory. 

The  Christians  upon  entering  the  city  found  little 
spoil  to  tempt  their  rapacity,  and  were  easily  per- 
suaded to  celebrate  their  conquest  with  the  services 


Vice  and  Strife  a^nong  the  Victors.     34 1 


of  religion.  King  Louis  marched  at  the  head  of  a 
grand  procession  to  the  great  mosque,  which  they 
solemnly  consecrated  to  the  worship  of  the  Virgin 
Mary.  The  Sultan  of  Cairo  had  been  prevented  by 
illness  from  personally  taking  part  in  the  battle.  He 
expressed  his  displeasure  at  the  defeat  of  his  soldiers 
by  ordering  the  beheading  of  fifty-four  men  of  the 
garrison  of  Damietta.  But  the  di.splay  of  vengeance 
upon  the  helpless  could  not  restore  his  lost  prestige 
in  the  presence  of  a  gigantic  enemy. 

Queen  Marguerite  established  her  court  in  Dami- 
etta. The  army  encamped  without  the  walls.  All 
gave  themselves  up  to  enjoyment,  as  if  a  single  de- 
feat of  the  foe  had  been  its  annihilation.  Instead  of 
following  up  the  advantage  gained,  it  was  determined 
to  await  the  gathering  of  the  ships  scattered  by  the 
storm,  and  for  the  arrival  of  a  French  contingent 
under  the  king's  brother,  who  desired  to  also  share 
in  the  conquest.  Inaction  produced  the  usual  con- 
sequences in  the  camp.  Vice  reigned  in  the  very 
proximity  of  the  king's  quarters,  which  he  was  as 
powerless  to  prevent  as  monarchs  of  that  age  gen- 
erally were  to  cleanse  the  slums  that  crept  close  to 
their  palaces.  The  leaders  fell  to  quarrelling  over 
the  scanty  spoil  of  Damietta,  and  even  disputed  its 
possession  by  the  sovereign.  The  soldiers  robbed 
the  traders  who  came  into  the  camp,  and  soon  pre- 
vented even  the  supply  of  comforts  from  this  source. 
Foray  parties  brought  in  the  Egyptian  women  they 
captured,  and  established  harems,  which  had  not 
even  the  screens  of  Oriental  custom.  The  king's 
authority  fell  into  total  disregard. 


342  The  Seve7ith  Crusade. 

There  was  also  strife  between  the  English  and 
the  French.  William  Longsword,  Earl  of  Salisbury, 
excited  jealousy  by  his  impetuous  and  successful 
enterprises,  in  one  of  which  he  captured  a  stronghold 
near  Alexandria,  together  with  many  women  belong- 
ing to  noble  Egyptian  families.  In  another  raid  he 
seized  a  richly  laden  caravan.  The  French  disputed 
the  possession  of  his  booty.  The  Count  d'Artois  was 
especially  envious  of  the  renown  of  his  fellow- warrior, 
and  seized  a  portion  of  the  spoil  in  the  name  of 
Louis.  When  the  king  hesitated  to  order  its  resto- 
ration, fearing  to  excite  division  in  his  immediate 
family,  Earl  William  declared  to  the  royal  face,  "  You 
are  not  then  a  king,  since  you  are  not  able  to  ad- 
minister justice."  He  left  the  camp  and  retired  to 
Acre.  The  Count  d'Artois  added  insult  by  exclaim- 
ing, "  Now  the  army  of  the  noble  French  is  well 
purged  of  these  tailed  Englishmen  " — alluding  to  a 
rumor  that,  as  punishment  for  the  murder  of  Thomas 
a  Becket,  the  people  of  the  British  Isles  had  begun 
to  develop  the  caudal  appendage  in  proof  that  they 
were  of  "  their  father,  the  devil." 

During  these  dissensions  the  lines  of  the  encamp- 
ment were  left  without  any  systematic  defence,  and 
were  constantly  raided  by  parties  of  swift  Bedouin 
riders,  who  made  their  assault  as  the  sudden  dust- 
clouds  of  Libya  overwhelm  the  traveller  and  quickly 
disappear  again  in  their  kindred  sands.  Carismian 
adventurers  were  also  lured  by  the  sultan's  promise 
of  a  golden  bezant  for  every  Christian  head,  and  half 
as  much  for  a  right  hand,  and  a  fifth  for  a  foot. 
They   dashed   upon   the   detached   groups,  or  stole 


Sullafia  Chcgger-Eddoitr.  343 


secretly  by  night  into  the  tents,  and  bore  away  their 
prize,  leaving  the  mutilated  bodies  of  the  knights  to 
tell  of  their  deed.  The  sultan,  Negmeddin,  knowing 
that  disease  was  hastening  his  end,  redeemed  the  time 
by  the  incessant  activity  of  his  subalterns.  Mansou- 
rah,  at  the  junction  of  the  branches  of  the  Nile,  soon 
presented  the  aspect  of  an  impregnable  circle  of 
fortifications. 

The  arrival  of  the  king's   brother,   the    Count   of 
Poitiers,  revived  the  martial  ardor  of  the  French; 
and  it  was  decided  to  attack  the  Egyptian  capital, 
Cairo,  or  Babylon  (Babloon),  as  it  was  then  called. 
The  majority  of  the  crusaders  supposed  this  place  to 
be  the  Babylon  of  the  Scriptures,  still  stored  with  the 
immense  riches  of  the  ancients,  and  waiting  for  them 
to  fulfil  upon  it  the  curses  of  the  prophets.     There 
was  a  rumor  that  certain  renegade  Moslems  had  al- 
ready entered  into  a  compact  to  deliver  the  citadel 
of  Cairo  to  the  advancing  Christians.     This  report 
even  reached  Europe,  where  it  was  magnified  into  a 
detailed  account  of  the  capture  of  the  Egyptian  capi- 
tal, and  awakened  universal  joy,  to  be  turned  into 
mourning  as  the  news  of  the  real  events  arrived. 

Negmeddin,  Sultan  of  Cairo,  died,  but  the  event 
was  kept  secret  within  the  citadel,  while  Chegger- 
Eddour,  the  favorite  sultana,  issued  orders  as  if  her 
hu.sband  were  living,  until  the  new  sultan,  Almoadam 
Turan  Shan,  had  securely  gripped  the  reins  of  power. 
Meanwhile  the  French  were  advancing.  On  De- 
cember 19th  they  reached  the  canal  Aschmoun,  a 
deep  and  broad  stream,  which  could  be  crossed  only 
by  the  crusaders  building  a  causeway.      As  fast  as 


344  '^^^  Seventh  Crusade. 

this  work  extended  into  the  stream  the  Moslems  dug 
away  the  opposite  bank,  and  so  each  day  left  the 
canal  of  unlessened  width.  The  Infidels  massed 
across  the  canal ;  their  fleet  waited  in  the  Nile 
above.  The  Christians  were  forced  to  make  their 
camp  at  Mansourah,  on  the  identical  site  of  the  ter- 
rible disaster  thirty  years  before. 

But  neither  the  memories  of  the  spot  which  monu- 
mented  the  fatal  end  of  the  previous  crusade,  nor  the 
evidences  of  danger  which  they  saw  on  every  side, 
could  subdue  the  gayety  for  which  the  French  even 
in  that  age  were  proverbial.  When  a  knight  of  rank 
was  being  buried  his  companions  interrupted  the 
chanting  of  the  mass  for  the  repose  of  his  soul  by 
their  bantering  as  to  which  of  them  was  most  apt  to 
win  the  hand  of  his  widow.  Joinville  notes  the  pun- 
ishment that  followed  this  irreverence,  in  that  all  of 
this  company  perished  in  the  very  next  battle,  and 
that  not  one  of  their  widows  respected  the  memory 
of  her  husband  sufficiently  to  remain  long  without 
marrying  one  of  his  better-behaved  comrades.  On 
this  old  battle-ground  the  crusaders  were  incessantly 
assailed  with  missiles  and  with  Greek  fire,  whose  huge 
balls,  exploding  with  tremendous  detonations,  scat- 
tered danger  far  and  wide,  and  destroyed  the  wooden 
towers  and  engines  of  the  French  as  fast  as  they  could 
be  constructed. 

A  ford  was  opportunely  discovered  not  far  distant ; 
the  French  marched  by  night  and  prepared  to  wade 
the  stream  at  daybreak,  Robert,  Count  d'Artois,  the 
king's  brother,  begged  the  honor  of  crossing  first.  He 
promised  to  wait  on  the  farther  bank  until  the  whole 


Foolh a rdiness  of  D'A  rto is.  345 

army  was  with  him,  but  the  flight  of  an  opposing 
band  of  Moslems  was  too  much  for  the  hot  head  of 
this  youth.  In  vain  did  the  experienced  Masters  of 
the  Templars  and  Hospitallers  protest  against  the 
foolhardiness  of  pursuing  the  retreating  band  into  the 
very  midst  of  their  fortifications  and  hosts.  The 
Count  d'Artois  replied  with  taunts,  impugning  the 
loyalty  and  courage  of  the  older  warriors:  "They 
fear  that  if  the  country  be  conquered  their  domina- 
tion will  cease."  This  was  too  much  for  the  self- 
restraint  of  the  most  cautious.  "  Raise,  then,  the 
banner!"  cried  the  Master  of  the  Templars.  Wil- 
liam Longsword  still  remonstrated.  The  Count 
d'Artois  replied,  "  What  cowardice  in  these  long- 
tailed  English!"  To  which  the  Englishman  made 
equal  bravado :  "  We  shall  be  to-day  where  you  will 
not  dare  to  touch  my  horse's  tail."  With  that  all 
dashed  ahead  for  the  desperate  assault.  The  Mos- 
lems could  not  at  first  withstand  this  impetuous 
charge.  Fakr  Eddin  was  surprised  half  dressed,  and 
while  endeavoring  to  rally  his  troops  was  slain.  On 
swept  the  victors,  driving  the  enemy  over  the  plain 
and  following  them  into  Mansourah. 

But  a  keen-eyed  leader  had  taken  the  place  of  the 
fallen  Fakr  Eddin.  Bibars  Bendoctar,  captain  of 
the  Mamelukes,  quickly  checked  the  flight,  and  by 
skilful  manoeuvring  surrounded  the  city  of  Mansourah 
before  the  Christians  could  emerge  from  its  gates. 
Thus  the  victors  were  imprisoned  within  the  walls 
they  had  conquered.  The  main  body  of  Christians, 
delayed  in  the  crossing,  at  length  followed  after  their 
comrades,  not  knowing  of  their  unhappy  fate.    With- 


346  The  Seventh  Ci'usade. 

out  orderly  array  they  spread  over  the  field  ;  a  thou- 
sand battles  were  fought  instead  of  one,  as  band  after 
band  met  the  scattered  detachments  of  the  enemy. 
Before  the  Christians  could  plan  their  engagement 
Bibars  had  collected  an  orderly  force  and  was  upon 
them.  Riding  through  their  disconnected  ranks,  he 
steadily  pressed  the  slaughter-line  back  to  the  canal. 
The  water  was  reddened  with  the  blood  of  the 
wounded  and  soon  covered  with  the  bodies  of  the 
drowned.  Louis,  unable  to  issue  commands  that 
could  be  heard,  set  a  splendid  example  of  heroism 
by  dashing  with  his  squires  into  the  thickest  ranks 
of  the  foe.  He  so  far  outstripped  his  quickest  at- 
tendants that  he  soon  found  himself  alone,  surrounded 
by  six  stalwart  Moslems,  who  endeavored  to  capture 
him,  his  royal  person  being  revealed  by  his  gorgeous 
uniform.  With  great  strength  and  skill,  which  his 
countrymen  have  never  ceased  to  celebrate,  he  ex- 
tricated himself  from  the  danger  and,  joined  by  his 
guards,  led  the  army  in  a  resistless  charge.  Their 
valor  saved  that  day. 

But  alas  for  those  in  Mansourah !  For  five  hours 
this  valiant  but  deluded  band  stood  in  the  streets, 
fighting  in  vain  for  their  lives.  Almost  the  entire 
vanguard  of  fifteen  hundred  perished.  England 
mourned  William  Longsword,  whose  death,  accord- 
ing to  the  chronicle,  was  announced  at  the  very  mo- 
ment to  his  mother  by  a  vision  of  her  son,  a  tri- 
umphant knight,  entering  heaven.  The  bravery  of 
Longsword  so  impressed  his  enemies  that  they  care- 
fully marked  his  grave  and  in  after  years  restored 
his  body  to  his  kinspeople.     France  lost  the  royal 


Disaster  at  Matisourah.  347 

brother,  Count  d'Artois,  who,  the  English  say,  at- 
tempted to  escape  by  casting  himself  into  the  Nile. 
The  Hospitallers  left  their  Grand  Master  a  prisoner. 
The  Templars  watched  long  tiiat  night  before  they 
beheld  their  leader  returning  to  their  camp  covered 
with  wounds  and  rags.  Joinville,  who  narrates  the 
events  of  that  fatal  day,  consoled  his  king  by  show- 
ing him  his  own  five  ghastly  wounds.  The  Chris- 
tians were  victorious  if  victory  is  proved  solely  by 
possession  of  the  field. 

Three  days  later  Bibars  reappeared ;  his  army 
stretched  from  the  canal  to  the  river.  Another  day 
of  terrible  havoc  followed.  At  nightfall  the  Chris- 
tians had  maintained  their  ground,  but  their  losses 
were  equal  to  a  fresh  defeat.  The  records  of  nearly 
all  the  great  families  of  France  are  starred  by  the 
dead  who  represented  them  that  night  as  they  lay 
unburied  on  the  plain  of  Mansourah. 

Discretion  suggested  the  retreat  of  the  remnant  of 
the  crusaders  to  Damietta,  but  desperation  took 
counsel  only  of  its  battle-heated  blood.  They  de- 
termined to  remain  and  hold  the  ground  so  dearly 
won.  It  was  an  unwise  decision.  While  the  human 
enemy  was  unable  to  resume  the  attack,  a  more  fear- 
ful one  stalked  visibly  among  them.  The  multitude 
of  dead  bodies  which  covered  the  land  and  water 
quickly  putrefied  and  bred  pestilence.  The  picture 
of  a  knight  walking  days  and  nights  along  the  canal, 
exposed  to  the  fetid  death-vapors  while  he  searched 
among  the  corpses  for  his  master,  Robert  d'Artois, 
might  be  an  allegory  of  France  itself  as  she  moaned 
and  waited  for  thousands  of  her  sons  who  would 


34^  The  Seventh  Crusade. 

never  return.  Those  who  survived  were  attacked 
by  a  virulent  disease,  which  Joinville  thus  describes : 
"  The  flesh  of  our  legs  dried  away  to  the  bone,  and 
our  skins  became  of  black  or  earth  color,  like  an  old 
saddle  which  has  been  a  long  time  laid  aside."  The 
fish  of  the  Nile  had  become  poisonous  from  feeding 
upon  the  dead  bodies,  and  putrefied  the  mouths  of 
those  who  ate  them.  "  It  became  necessary  for  the 
barbers  to  cut  out  the  swollen  flesh  of  the  gums  of 
all  who  were  affiicted  with  this  disease  so  that  they 
could  not  eat,  but  went  about  in  the  army  crying 
and  moaning."  So  decimated  were  the  ranks  that 
grooms  took  the  places  of  knights,  not  waiting  for 
chivalric  ceremonies,  and  put  on  the  noble  armor 
they  had  been  accustomed  to  clean.  There  were 
not  enough  priests  left  alive  to  shrive  the  dying. 
King  Louis  gave  himself  up  to  nursing  the  sick  and 
consoling  their  last  hours  until  he  himself  was  pros- 
trated by  the  epidemic.  The  crusaders  watched  in 
anxiety  by  his  cot  what  they  feared  Avould  be  the 
extinction  of  their  last  hope. 

The  Moslems,  keeping  at  a  safe  distance  from  this 
death-beleaguered  camp,  added  famine  to  the  other 
horrors  by  cutting  off  supplies.  They  lay  in  wait 
for  vessels  laden  with  provisions  from  Europe,  and 
seized  them  as  they  were  ascending  the  Nile.  At 
length  almost  the  entire  Christian  fleet  was  captured. 
Louis  was  thus  reduced  to  making  proposals  to  aban- 
don Egypt  on  condition  of  the  restoration  of  Jerusa- 
lem to  Christian  rule.  The  sultan  agreed,  provided 
the  king  himself  should  be  surrendered  to  him  as  a 
hostage  until  the  last  European  had  left  the  country. 


Horror.s  of  I  he  Christian  Retreat.       349 


Louis  consented,  but  the  warriors  refused  to  accede 
to  what  they  deemed  the  disgraceful  terms  of  putting 
in  pawn  their  king.  Nothing  remained  but  an  at- 
tempt to  return  to  Damietta. 

This  retreat  of  the  Christians  was  fraught  with 
miseries  which  baffle  description.  The  women,  the 
children,  and  the  sick  were  stowed  in  the  few  boats 
that  remained,  and  in  the  darkness  of  night  drifted 
down  the  stream.  The  soldiers  took  up  their  perilous 
march  along  the  banks.  Some  of  the  nobles,  to- 
gether with  the  papal  legate,  having  secured  a  vessel, 
urged  the  king  to  embark.  He  refused,  being  de- 
termined, as  he  declared,  to  tramp  with  the  last  man 
that  survived.  The  camp  they  were  leaving  was 
quickly  assailed  by  the  Moslems,  who  went  through  it 
slaughtering  all  they  could  find.  Louis  turned  back 
and  fought  with  the  desperation  of  a  tigress  protect- 
ing her  young.  The  cry,  "  Wait  for  the  king!"  rang 
along  the  banks,  and  the  vessels  stopped ;  but  Louis 
forbade  any  to  loiter.  At  length  the  rear-guard  was 
in  motion.  The  king  was  provided  with  a  horse, 
and,  without  helmet  or  cuirass,  arrayed  only  with  his 
sword  and  surrounded  by  a  handful  of  braves,  brought 
up  the  rear  of  a  mighty  funeral  procession,  in  which 
the  living  were  moving  to  their  own  graves.  The 
king  afterwards  spoke  of  the  heroic  fidelity  of  one  of 
his  attendants,  Geoffrey  de  Sargines,  "  who  protected 
me  against  the  Saracens  as  a  good  servant  protects 
his  lord's  tankard  against  the  flies."  The  cortege — 
it  was  such  rather  than  an  army — moved  along  roads 
lined  with  the  dead  and  dying.  Horrible  cries 
startled  them  on  every  side.      Peering  through  the 


350  The  Seventh  Crusade. 

darkness,  they  saw  the  forms  of  comrades  often  de- 
prived of  hands  and  feet. 

As  birds  of  prey  follow  the  traveller  in  the  desert 
and  sometimes  do  not  wait  until  he  is  dead  before 
they  attack  his  languishing  form,  so  the  Moslems 
pursued  the  band  which  they  knew  to  be  foredoomed 
to  perish,  and  hastened  the  end  by  their  murderous 
assault.  Those  who  had  embarked  on  boats  met 
with  a  disaster  equal  to  that  of  those  who  trudged 
on  land.  The  enemy's  fleet  stopped  them  near 
Mehallah.  The  Christian  boats  were  huddled  to- 
gether so  that  they  could  not  move.  The  crusaders 
could  scarcely  find  foot  room  on  the  crowded  decks ; 
the  Mussulman  archers  on  the  shore  poured  upon 
them  a  storm  of  arrows,  many  of  which  were  tipped 
with  the  Greek  fire.  The  Christians  on  the  ships 
were  no  longer  soldiers,  but  victims  of  slaughter. 

On  the  land  it  was  the  same.  The  king,  weak 
unto  death,  was  defended  by  the  little  band  about 
him.  They  brought  him  into  a  house  in  the  town 
of  Menieh ;  within  doors  a  tradeswoman  from  Paris 
held  the  royal  head  in  her  lap,  as  was  supposed, 
watching  him  die.  Without  in  the  streets  brave  men 
laid  down  their  lives  in  a  last  effort  to  save  even  their 
king's  body,  but  their  heroic  devotion  served  only  to 
emblazon  itself  on  this  darkest  page  of  the  history  of 
the  crusades.  Louis  was  taken  by  the  foe  and  loaded 
with  chains,  but  he  felt  more  weightily  the  shame 
of  being  the  first  king  of  France  ever  a  prisoner  in 
the  hands  of  a  foreign  enemy.  Joinville,  who  tells 
the  story,  was  dragged  to  a  neighboring  house,  and 
would  have  been  slain  but  that  a  little  child  clung  to 


Heroism  of  Marguerite  and  Lotiis.     351 

him  and,  by  this  double  appeal  of  helplessness,  excited 
the  interposition  of  one  whom  he  calls  "  the  good 
Saracen." 

The  Moslems  returned  to  Mansourah  in  triumph. 
They  dressed  their  fleet  in  utmost  gayet.y  as  it  bore 
the  person  of  tlicir  royal  captive.  Their  armies 
marched  on  either  bank  of  the  Nile,  escorting  the 
Christian  survivors,  who  were  driven  along  with 
their  hands  bound  behind  their  backs. 

Queen  Marguerite  was  at  Damietta,  already  enter- 
ing the  pains  of  childbed.  Ordering  all  to  leave  her 
chamber  but  an  aged  knight,  she  said  to  him,  "  I  re- 
quire you,  on  the  faith  you  have  pledged  to  me,  that 
if  the  enemy  shall  take  this  city  you  will  cut  off  my 
head  rather  than  allow  me  to  become  a  captive." 
"  Certainly,  madam,  I  will  do  it,"  he  replied.  The 
queen  gave  birth  to  a  son,  whom  she  called  Jean 
Tristan,  because  of  the  sorrows  that  begirt  his  birth. 
Learning  that  the  remnant  of  the  city  guard  proposed 
abandoning  Damietta,  she  forbade  it  as  involving 
additional  disgrace.  "  Be  moved  by  my  tears,"  she 
cried,  "  and  have  pity  on  the  poor  child  whom  you 
see  lying  on  my  bosom."  The  attitude  of  this  hero- 
ine saved  the  city,  the  last  spot  of  Christian  posses- 
sion in  the  land  they  had  come  to  conquer. 

Louis  languished  in  prison.  He  had  no  clothing 
but  a  coarse  cassock,  which  a  fellow-prisoner  had 
taken  from  his  own  person.  Even  the  Moslems  who 
guarded  him  afterwards  expressed  their  reverence 
for  the  piety  the  captive  monarch  displayed,  "  worthy 
of  a  saint  of  Islam,  the  religion  of  holy  resignation." 
The  sultan  at  length  sent  him  a  wardrobe  of  fifty 


352  The  Seventh  Crusade. 

magnificent  dresses  for  himself  and  his  attendants. 
Louis  declined  them,  saying  that  as  a  French  king 
he  could  not  wear  the  raiment  of  a  foreign  prince. 
They  prepared  him  a  feast,  but  Louis  declined  to 
partake  of  it,  because  he  was  a  captive.  The  ser- 
vices of  the  Moslem  physicians  he  did  not  reject, 
knowing  that  if  it  was  the  purpose  of  his  enemies  to 
keep  him  alive  to  grace  their  triumph,  it  was  his  duty 
to  his  throne  not  to  sacrifice  any  opportunity  of 
lengthening  life  by  which  he  might  regain  it.  The 
sultan  promised  him  liberty  on  condition  of  his  issu- 
ing an  order  for  the  surrender  of  Damietta  and  the 
Christian  strongholds  of  Palestine.  He  replied,  "  The 
Christian  cities  do  not  belong  to  me,  but  to  God." 
The  sultan  then  threatened  him  with  the  most  fright- 
ful torture,  such  as  was  reserved  for  the  lowest  crimi- 
nals. Louis  replied,  "  I  am  the  sultan's  prisoner ;  he 
can  do  with  me  what  he  pleases."  A  Moslem  re- 
joined, "  You  treat  us,  sire,  as  if  you  had  us  in  prison 
instead  of  our  holding  you." 

About  him  in  an  open  court  Louis  daily  looked 
upon  the  miseries  of  the  remnant  of  his  army.  They 
were  naked,  clothed  only  in  scars  and  blood  from 
their  unhealed  wounds.  Each  day  a  number  were 
dragged  out  and  offered  the  alternative  of  abjuring 
their  faith  and  embracing  Mohammedanism  or  being 
slain.  The  dead  bodies  that  were  daily  cast  into  the 
Nile  told  the  story  of  their  choice.  Many  were 
carried  to  Cairo  to  die  in  its  dungeons  or  were  sold 
as  slaves  to  surrounding  tribes. 

The  conquerors  finally  wearied  of  their  attempt  to 
subdue  the  proud  spirits  of  those  whose  bodies  they 


Massacre  of  the  Sultan.  353 

held,  and  proposed  to  liberate  the  king  for  a  million 
golden  bezants  and  the  surrender  of  Damietla. 
Louis  accepted  the  offer  on  condition  that  Queen 
Marguerite  should  approve,  adding  in  the  spirit  of  the 
Chivalry  of  that  age,  "  The  queen  is  my  lady ;  I  can 
do  nothing  without  her  consent."  It  was  agreed 
that  Damietta  should  be  the  ransom  for  the  king, 
while  he  should  pay  from  his  own  purse  the  ransom 
money  for  such  of  his  comrades  as  survived. 

The  fulfilment  of  the  treaty  was  interrupted  by  a 
strange  turn  of  affairs.  The  Sultan  Almoadam,  in- 
flated with  pride  over  his  victories,  had  stirred  the 
jealousy  of  the  Mamelukes.  Chegger-Eddour,  the 
slave-woman  who  had  risen  to  be  the  mistress  of 
Egypt,  turned  also  against  the  man  whom  as  her 
husband  she  had  raised  to  power.  The  sultan  gave 
a  banquet  to  his  chief  officers  ;  at  the  end  of  the  feast 
Bibars  Bendoctar,  the  leader  of  the  Mamelukes,  ap- 
proached him  and  aimed  a  blow  with  his  dagger, 
which,  however,  inflicted  but  a  slight  wound.  Al- 
moadam fled  to  a  tower;  the  Mamelukes  fired  the 
edifice  ;  their  victim  threw  himself  through  the  smoke 
and  flames  from  a  window,  his  bruised  body  falling 
among  his  foes ;  Bibars  smote  him  with  a  sabre. 
Bleeding  and  weak  with  terror,  Almoadam  flung 
himself  into  the  Nile ;  the  soldiers  plunged  after  him 
and  held  him  until  dead  beneath  the  water. 

The  infuriated  Mamelukes  then  assailed  the  galley 
in  which  Joinville  and  several  leaders  of  the  Chris- 
tians were  confined,  and  bade  them  prepare  for  death. 
There  was  but  a  single  priest  in  the  company  and  no 
time  for  shriving  one  by  one,  so  they  confessed  to 


354  ^^^^  Seve7ith  Crusade. 

one  another,  Joinville,  the  layman,  giving  to  Guy 
d'lbcHn,  as  he  says,  "  such  absolution  as  God  had 
given  me  power  to  give."  Fortunately  the  rage  of  the 
Mamelukes  was  diverted  elsewhere,  and  the  "  dead 
men  came  to  life." 

The  Moslems,  unable  to  secure  a  successor  to 
Almoadam  from  among  their  warriors,  gave  the 
crown  to  the  Sultana  Chegger-Eddour,  much  to  the 
disgust  of  the  Mohammedan  world.  After  great  dis- 
sension and  many  threats  the  leaders  of  the  Moslems 
proposed  to  carry  out  the  treaty  with  the  Franks 
which  the  unfortunate  Almoadam  had  agreed  to. 
They  took  an  oath  to  observe  its  conditions  and 
asked  of  Louis  a  similar  pledge  ;  this  he  rejected  with 
scorn,  assuming  that  the  word  of  a  French  king 
needed  no  confirmation.  The  knights  and  lords  of 
his  party  embarked  on  vessels  and  descended  the 
Nile,  the  king  marching  with  his  Moslem  guard 
along  the  shore.  At  Damietta  he  was  joined  by 
Queen  Marguerite  and  her  court. 

In  spite  of  its  honorable  surrender  the  Moslems 
hastened  to  loot  Damietta  and  put  to  death  every 
Christian  that  remained.  This  breach  of  treaty  and 
their  new  taste  of  blood  infuriated  the  mob  of  Mos- 
lems for  further  deeds  of  dishonor  and  cruelty.  The 
galleys  of  the  French  were  ordered  to  reascend  the 
Nile.  It  was  proposed  to  complete  the  tragedy  in  one 
act  by  slaughtering  all  the  invaders.  The  Moslems 
were  diverted  from  this  outrage  only  by  the  consid- 
eration, as  expressed  in  the  speech  of  one  of  them,  that 
"  the  dead  pay  no  ransom,"  and  that  to  massacre  the 
remnant  of  the  French  army  would  be  to  deprive  them- 


Escape  of  Louis  to  Acre.  355 

selves  of  the  bezants  pledged  as  the  price  of  their  lives. 
So  the  miserable  exodus  of  the  crusaders  was  re- 
sumed, not,  however,  without  anticipation  that  the 
fickle  temper  of  their  captors  might  again  change. 
At  the  mouth  of  the  Nile  a  Genoese  vessel  received 
the  king;  as  soon  as  he  was  on  deck  an  array  of 
archers  sprang  to  the  bulwarks  and  dispersed  the 
Egyptians,  and  the  vessel  sped  rapidly  out  to  sea. 

Louis  put  in  at  Acre,  bringing  to  the  meagre  force 
there  but  a  few  more  war-wasted  men,  wider  de- 
mands upon  its  diminished  resources,  and  a  pestilent 
disease,  which  slew  scores  daily.  In  vain  did  France 
call  for  her  king  to  return ;  pride  or  piety  led  him  to 
refuse  to  desert  his  unhappy  followers.  There  were 
still  twelve  thousand  Frenchmen  in  the  prisons  of 
Egypt  or  scattered  as  slaves  over  the  lands  bordering 
the  Nile.  These  he  must  endeavor  to  rescue.  The 
Hospitallers,  Templars,  and  Teutonic  Knights,  to- 
gether with  the  nobles  of  Palestine,  entreated  his 
presence  with  tliem.  For  several  weeks  there  were 
almost  daily  councils,  some,  among  them  the  king's 
two  surviving  brothers,  declaring  that  France,  threat- 
ened by  England,  needed  the  king,  while  his  presence 
almost  without  following  in  Palestine  could  be  no 
help  to  the  Christian  cause,  if  it  did  not  excite  the 
everywhere  victorious  Moslems  to  greater  rapacity. 
Others  among  them,  like  Prince  Joinville,  advocated 
remaining.  Louis  listened  to  the  latter.  The  king's 
brothers,  the  dukes  of  Anjou  and  Poitiers,  returned 
to  France. 

The  Moslems  of  Egypt,  grown  quickly  tired  of  the 
Sultana   Chegger-Eddour,   made   her   yield    up   the 


356  The  Seve7ttli  Crusade. 

sceptre.  She  shrewdly  passed  it  to  a  favorite,  Aibek, 
by  marrying  him,  and  thus  retained  the  substance  of 
power. 

The  new  Sultan  of  Egypt  and  the  Sultan  of  Da- 
mascus and  Aleppo  each  invoked  the  aid  of  Louis 
against  the  other.  Motives  of  vengeance  would  have 
inclined  him  to  side  with  the  latter,  but  dread  for 
the  fate  of  the  French  still  left  in  Egypt,  and  regard 
for  his  treaty,  hard  as  its  terms  had  been,  prevented 
this  choice,  except  in  the  event  of  the  Egyptians  not 
speedily  fulfilling  their  part  of  the  contract  in  lib- 
erating the  captives.  The  threat  of  such  alliance 
brought  from  Egypt  some  instalments  of  prisoners. 
One  band  of  two  hundred  knights  carried  with  them 
to  Acre,  as  their  best  contribution  to  the  cause,  the 
bones  of  several  of  their  comrades  for  burial  in  the 
Holy  Land.  Louis  was  deeply  afflicted  by  the  news 
that  many  of  his  soldiers  refused  to  return  to  him, 
having  renounced  the  faith  of  Christ,  who  no  longer 
extended  to  them  His  succor.  Some  of  these  rene- 
gades amassed  wealth  and  rose  to  power  in  Egypt, 
but  never,  if  we  are  to  believe  the  Moslem  writers, 
reached  the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  true  fol- 
lowers of  the  Prophet.  This  defection  is  hardly  to 
be  wondered  at,  since  that  age  refused  to  believe  the 
words  of  Christ,  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world, 
else  would  My  servants  fight."  The  Christians  par- 
took too  largely  of  the  Moslem  idea  that  religion  would 
triumph  by  the  sword ;  but  they  had  not  the  reserve 
faith  of  the  Mohammedans,  which  led  them  to  take 
up  the  kismet,  "  It  is  decreed,"  when  they  were  forced 
to  retreat. 


Louis  Lingers  in  Palestine.  357 

Europe  sent  an  occasional  knight  to  join  the  for- 
lorn hope  with  Louis,  but  no  organized  force.  The 
Pope  exhausted  his  passion  in  pursuing  with  male- 
diction the  memory  of  Frederick  II.,  who  had  just 
died.  "  Let  the  heavens  rejoice,  and  let  the  eartli  be 
glad,"  he  wrote  to  the  people  of  Sicily  upon  the 
death  of  his  old  enemy.  Against  the  new  emperor, 
Conrad,  he  proclaimed  a  crusade,  offering  indulgence 
to  the  German  mothers  and  fathers  who  would  induce 
their  sons  to  become  traitors  to  their  sovereign. 

The  English  King,  Henry  III.,  offered  to  take  the 
cross  for  Palestine,  but,  having  raised  a  large  sum  of 
money  for  the  purpose  of  an  expedition,  found  other 
uses  for  it.  He  forbade  a  large  band  of  his  people 
embarking  for  the  Holy  Land,  guarding  his  ports 
against  their  departure.  He  even,  as  Matthew  Paris 
says,  "  like  a  hurt  or  offended  child,  who  runs  to  his 
mother  with  his  complaints,"  obtained  a  papal  man- 
date enforcing  obedience  to  his  whim  in  this  regard. 
Queen  Blanche,  the  regent  of  France,  did  indeed 
send  a  ship  laden  with  money  to  her  son,  but  the 
vessel  was  sunk  off  the  Syrian  coast. 

The  chief  occupation  of  Louis  and  his  knights  was 
in  repairing  the  few  remaining  fortifications  held  by 
the  Christians,  and  in  making  pious  pilgrimages  to 
the  holy  places  at  Nazareth,  Tabor,  and  Cana.  The 
Sultan  of  Damascus  invited  him  to  Jerusalem,  but, 
having  come  to  conquer  it,  he  would  not  consent  to 
enter  it  as  a  guest,  having  in  mind  the  example  of 
Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  who  sixty  years  before  had 
refused  to  look  upon  the  city  he  could  not  rescue. 
The  Egyptians  pressed  Louis  for  alliance  against  the 


35^  The  Seventh  Crusade. 

Sultan  of  Damascus.  They  pledged  to  liberate  all 
captives  remaining  in  Egypt,  and  further  to  send  to 
Palestine  the  heads  of  the  Christians  which  had  been 
exposed  on  the  walls  of  Cairo;  they  would  also  give 
up  Jerusalem  and  nearly  all  the  cities  of  Palestine. 
Under  this  immense  lure  Louis  made  treaty  with  the 
Egyptians  for  fifteen  years. 

The  Sultan  of  Damascus  did  not  let  his  resentment 
cool  before  he  interposed  an  army  between  the 
Christians  and  their  new  allies.  He  was  defeated 
February  3,  125 1.  The  Egyptians  were  unable  or 
unwilling  to  fulfil  the  promise  to  join  Louis's  forces. 
At  the  expiration  of  a  year  the  Moslems  had  made 
peace  with  each  other  and  declared  war  upon  Louis 
as  their  common  enemy.  The  Turkomans  also  made 
raid  upon  Sidon  and  slaughtered  two  thousand  of  the 
Christian  people.  Louis  ordered  Joinville  to  retali- 
ate by  assaulting  Baneas,  or  Cassarea  Philippi,  where 
they  took  recompense  in  blood.  As  they  returned 
to  Sidon  they  saw  the  ground  covered  with  putrefy- 
ing corpses  of  their  martyred  kinsmen.  Louis  bade 
them  bury  the  dead,  but  no  one  would  touch  spade 
for  the  disgusting  task.  "  Come,  my  friends,  let  us 
bestow  a  little  earth  upon  the  martyrs  of  Jesus 
Christ,"  said  the  king;  and  springing  from  his  horse, 
he  took  one  of  the  bodies  in  his  hands  and  gently 
laid  it  beneath  the  dirt.  His  example  was  followed 
by  his  suite. 

A  few  months  later  news  came  of  the  death  of 
Queen  Blanche.  The  pens  of  the  historians,  who  are 
usually  concerned  only  with  great  affairs  of  state  and 
the  issue  of  battles,  linger  over  the  page  in  which  they 


Louis  Returns  to  Frajice.  359 


describe  tlie  tender  lamentation  of  the  good  Louis. 
For  two  days  he  spoke  to  no  one ;  then  sent  for 
Joinvillc,  to  whom  he  outpoured  his  passionate  grief. 

Tlie  call  for  Louis's  return  to  France  was  renewed  ; 
the  throne  had  no  protector;  England  was  threaten- 
ing. There  was  no  possibility  of  further  service  in 
the  East,  yet  the  king  was  undecided.  Religious 
processions  of  prayer  were  organized  and  the  altars  in 
various  holy  places  besieged  with  petitions  for  the 
divine  guidance  of  the  royal  mind.  At  length 
Heaven  seemed  to  concur  in  what  had  long  been  the 
judgment  of  men,  and  the  king  consented  to  aban- 
don the  field. 

Fourteen  vessels  were  sufficient  to  convey  his 
forces.  Each  was  fitted  with  an  altar  for  hourly 
service  during  the  voyage.  They  raised  anchor  in 
the  port  of  Sidon,  April  24,  1254.  OfT  Cyprus  the 
king's  ships  were  nearly  wrecked,  but  the  courage  of 
the  sailors  was  revived  by  his  words,  if  the  sea  did 
not  subsitle  at  his  prayer,  as  some  say  it  did.  A 
frightful  tempest  seems  to  have  felt  the  spell  of 
Queen  Marguerite's  vow  of  a  silver  ship  to  St.  Nich- 
olas of  Lorraine.  After  two  months  and  a  half  (July 
8th)  the  fleet  reached  Hyeres.  The  king  at  first  re- 
fused to  land,  as  this  place  was  not  yet  a  French 
possession ;  but  he  was  persuaded  to  yield  his  patri- 
otic prejudice  on  account  of  his  disgust  for  the  water. 
His  piety  also  triumphed  over  his  worldly  chagrin, 
for,  "  See,"  said  he,  "  if  God  has  not  proved  to  us 
how  vast  is  His  power,  when  by  means  of  a  single 
one  of  the  four  winds  the  King  of  France,  the  queen, 
their  children,  and  so  many  other  persons  have  es- 


360  The  Seventh  Crusade. 

caped  drowning."  After  a  journey  of  two  months 
more,  not  a  long  one  for  the  best  mounted  in  that 
age,  the  royal  party  reached  Paris,  September  7, 
1254.  The  king  at  once  repaired  to  St.  Denis  to 
recognize  the  protection  of  his  patron  saint.  Then, 
with  universal  welcome,  he  entered  his  capital.  The 
popular  enthusiasm  was  not  altogether  of  joy  as  the 
people  contrasted  the  little  band  of  lords  and  knights 
returning  to  their  wasted  estates  with  the  splendid 
retinue  that  six  years  before  had  gone  forth  to  con- 
quer a  new  empire  for  France  and  Christ.  But  one 
thing  comforted  them  as  they  contemplated  the  dis- 
aster— the  piety  of  their  monarch.  This  was  the 
more  marked  as  the  age  had  lost  much  of  its  re- 
ligious zest.  This  crusade  was  very  unlike  the  first 
in  that  it  was  sustained  by  the  new  spirit  of  Chivalry 
rather  than  of  mere  sanctity.  Cross- wearing  was  no 
longer  thought  to  be  necessarily  the  emblazoning  of 
Heaven.  The  haughtiness,  the  worldliness,  not  to 
say  the  wickedness,  of  the  popes,  who  should  have 
been  its  spiritual  leaders,  but  who  were  engrossed  in 
the  gratification  of  their  own  jealousies,  almost  lost 
the  church  the  respect  of  the  nations.  The  beauty 
of  Louis's  devotion,  its  unselfishness  and  spirituality, 
somewhat  redeemed  the  character  of  the  movement 
upon  which  Christ  Himself  seemed  to  frown  through 
His  adverse  providence. 


THE    EIGHTH    CRUSADE. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

DEATH  OF  ST.  LOUIS — FALL  OF  ACRE. 


OR  sixteen  years  the  crusading  impulse 
seemed  dead,  under  the  general  belief  in 
the  hopelessness  of  further  efforts.  The 
songs  of  the  Troubadours  even  were 
turned  to  lamentations,  and  were  burdened 
with  the  refrain  that  Christ  had  fallen  asleep  and  no 
longer  regarded  His  people.  In  the  meanwhile  tiiere 
was  rising  in  the  East  the  new  power  of  the  Mame- 
lukes, which  was  destined  to  accomplish  the  fears  of 
Christendom. 

It  will  be  recalled  that  Chegger-Eddour,  the  slave 
Sultana  of  Egypt,  had  continued  her  power  by 
marrying  Aibek,  the  Mameluke,  and  thus  installing 
him  as  Sultan  of  Cairo.  Whatever  Aibek's  ability 
to  rule  men,  he  utterly  failed  to  master  a  woman's 
heart.  Learning  that  he  whom  she  had  created  her 
lord  was  proposing  additional  matrimonial  alliance 
with  a  princess  of  Mosul,  Chegger-Eddour  stabbed 

?0l 


362  The  Eighth  Crusade. 

him  to  death.  While  his  dead  body  was  lying  at 
her  feet  she  sent  for  the  emir  Saif  Eddin,  and  offered 
him  her  hand  and  kingdom.  Horrified  at  the  bloody 
throne  he  was  invited  to  sit  upon,  Saif  fled  away. 
Chegger-Eddour,  with  versatile  affection,  the  same 
day  lured  two  other  emirs  to  look  upon  her  bloody 
charms,  but,  as  even  a  bird  will  flee  the  fascination 
of  a  serpent  when  once  it  sees  its  mate  disappear  in 
the  devouring  jaws,  the  emirs  did  not  wait  for  the 
embrace  of  the  beautiful  enchantress.  That  night 
Chegger-Eddour's  body,  red  with  her  own  blood, 
was  tossed  into  the  castle  ditch,  and  the  son  of  Aibek, 
a  lad  of  fifteen  years,  came  to  the  throne. 

But  the  news  of  the  progress  of  the  Tartars,  who 
had  already  overthrown  the  caliphate  of  Bagdad  and 
were  marching  through  Syria  upon  Egypt,  led  the 
Mamelukes  to  put  the  reins  into  stronger  hands. 
They  chose  for  their  leader  Koutouz,  renowned  for 
ability  and  success  on  many  a  field.  Koutouz  met 
the  advancing  Tartars  and  utterly  defeated  them  in 
a  great  battle  on  the  plain  of  Tiberas.  The  Chris- 
tians, having  endeavored  to  make  alliance  with  the 
Tartars  as  against  the  Egyptians,  roused  the  Moslem 
spirit  of  retaliation.  Koutouz  for  a  while  restrained 
his  people  in  the  name  of  Moslem  fidelity  to  vows, 
since  the  treaty  with  the  Christians  was  still  in  effect. 
Bibars,  the  victorious  leader  against  Louis  IX.  in  the 
affair  of  Mansourah,  opposed  the  policy  of  Koutouz. 
Meeting  him  while  hunting,  he  slew  the  sultan  and 
claimed  the  throne  on  the  ground  of  having  thus 
made  room  for  himself.  Such  was  the  reverence  for 
brute  power  that  the  assassin's  stroke  was  recognized 


Bibars  Sultan— Louis  ReenlUts.       363 

as  the  indication  of  the  will  of  Allali.  The  prepara- 
tions which  had  been  made  at  Cairo  for  the  triumphal 
return  of  Koutouz,  the  conqueror  of  the  Tartars,  were 
utilized  for  the  coronation  of  Bibars  as  his  successor. 
The  elevation  of  Bibars  was  an  omen  of  woe  for 
the  Christian  cause.  Pope  Alexander  IV.  confessed 
that  it  would  now  be  impossible  for  any  Christian 
power  to  maintain  itself  in  the  Holy  Land. 

Bibars  inaugurated  his  reign  over  the  Moslems  by 
ravaging  Palestine,  destroying  Nazareth,  Ccnesarea, 
Arsuf,  and  Safed,  murdering  the  inhabitants,  and 
dividing  the  land  among  his  emirs.  Returning  to 
Egypt,  he  recuperated  his  army  and  made  an  incur- 
sion into  Armenia,  taking  Jaffa  and  Antioch  on  his 
way  (1268).  So  many  were  his  captives  that  the 
Arabian  chronicler  says,  "  There  was  not  a  slave  of 
a  slave  that  did  not  possess  a  slave." 

But  one  heart  in  Europe  seemed  still  to  throb  with 
either  faith  or  courage.     The  pious  Louis  IX.  was 
worn  with  cares,  harassed  with  the  memory  of  his 
previous  disaster,  and  depressed  by  a  wasting  dis- 
ease.    One  day  he  entered  his  parliament  hall  in  the 
Louvre,  carrying  the  "  crown  of  thorns."     In  pres- 
ence of  the  princes  and  nobles  he  resumed  the  cross ; 
for  three  years  he  incessantly  labored  amassing  means 
and  men.    The  despair  of  Europe,  having  exhausted 
its  doleful  sentiment,  at  the  call  of  the  saintly  king 
changed    to    hope.     The   king's    sons,   the    English 
princes,  Edward  and  Edmund,  the  earls  of  Pembroke 
and  Warwick,  John  Baliol,  with  many  nobles  of  Scot- 
land,  the  kings  of   Castile,   Aragon,  and   Portugal, 
emulated  the  piety  of  Louis.     The  zeal  of  most  of 


364  The  Eighth  Crusade. 

these,  however,  evaporated  in  the  long  delay  or 
under  the  influence  of  the  dangers  that  threatened 
them  at  home  in  the  distracted  condition  of  their 
lands. 

In  March,  1270,  Louis  repaired  to  Notre  Dame, 
barefooted,  with  scrip  and  staff,  and  placed  his  king- 
dom under  care  of  the  patron  saint  of  France.  He 
then  traversed  the  land  to  the  former  port  of  depar- 
ture, Aigues-Mortes,  and  on  July  4,  1270,  embarked 
upon  the  Mediterranean. 

Tunis,  on  the  North  African  coast,  was  the  ren- 
dezvous of  innumerable  Moslem  pirates,  whose  swift 
ships  and  desperate  crews  menaced  all  the  passable 
water  between  France  and  the  Holy  Land.  The 
city  itself  was  regarded  as  an  inestimable  prize,  stored 
as  it  was  with  the  riches  of  commerce  and  plunder. 
But  most  priceless,  in  the  thought  of  Louis,  was  its 
king,  of  whom  it  was  rumored  that  he  inclined  to  the 
Christian  faith.  Louis  declared  that  he  would  will- 
ingly die  in  a  dungeon  if  by  any  means  he  might  be 
the  hand  of  Providence  leading  so  noble  a  convert  to 
the  foot  of  the  cross. 

It  was  decided  to  make  a  descent  upon  the  Afri- 
can coast.  A  landing  was  easily  effected.  The 
Tunisians,  not  daring  to  make  attack,  endeavored  to 
lure  the  invaders  inward.  All  hopes  of  the  conver- 
sion of  their  king  disappeared  when  the  dusky  mon- 
arch sent  a  salutation  in  which  he  promised  to  come 
with  a  hundred  thousand  warriors  and  receive  his 
baptism  in  the  blood  of  battle,  a  prelibation  of  which 
would  be  in  the  slaughter  of  every  Christian  in  his 
dominions. 


Death  of  St.  Louis.  365 

Meanwhile  all  North  Africa,  even  to  the  Nile,  was 
moving  westward  under  the  inspiration  of  Bibars  and 
the  faith  of  the  Prophet.  Nature,  too,  seemed  to  be 
allied  with  the  Moslems.  The  fiery  sirocco  loaded 
the  atmosphere.  The  enemy  increased  the  torment 
by  tossing  the  hot  sands  into  the  air  near  the  Chris- 
tian camps.  The  winds  drove  these  fiery  particles 
upon  them,  burying  them  as  under  the  cinders  from 
a  volcano.  Dysentery  and  the  African  plague  soon 
added  their  horrors.  The  camp  was  reduced  to  the 
condition  of  a  battle-field  after  slaughter.  Men  died 
faster  than  they  could  be  buried,  and  fed  the  plague 
with  their  carcasses.  The  flower  of  the  French  army 
withered  away.  Tristan,  the  king's  son,  he  that  was 
born  amid  the  sorrows  of  Damietta,  fell  a  victim,  in 
spite  of  his  father's  prayers  and  loving  ministrations. 

Louis  himself  was  stricken.  They  reared  the  cross 
in  front  of  his  tent,  that  from  its  mystery  of  love  and 
grace  he  might  gather  strength  still  to  live  or  to  die. 
Calling  before  him  his  eldest  surviving  son,  Philip,  he 
instructed  him  how  to  govern  the  kingdom  that  might 
soon  be  his.  He  bade  him  maintain  the  dignity  and 
franchises  of  the  throne,  with  justice  to  every  class, 
to  avoid  warring  upon  Christian  nations,  and,  above 
all,  show  himself  the  friend  of  the  poor,  the  consoler 
of  the  suffering,  and  the  avenger  of  the  injured  of 
whatever  degree.  He  then  turned  to  his  daughter, 
the  Queen  of  Navarre,  with  counsel  befitting  her  sta- 
tion. Though  realizing  that  his  end  was  near,  he 
did  not  refuse  to  listen  to  an  embassage  from  the 
Greek  emperor.  Many  hours  he  then  spent  in  prayer. 
His  mind  at  length  began  to  waver;  in  his  deliriimi 


366  The  Eighth  Crusade. 


o 


he  cried  out,  "Jerusalem!  Jerusalem!  We  will  go  to 
Jerusalem!"  Recovering  a  little,  he  bade  his  atten- 
dants place  him  upon  a  bed  of  ashes,  the  place  of  a 
penitent  sinner ;  lying  here,  he  cried,  "  O  Lord,  I 
shall  enter  into  Thy  house  and  shall  worship  Thee  in 
Thy  tabernacle."  Then,  while  uttering  the  words, 
"  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit,"  he 
fell  asleep.  The  beauty  and  calm  of  his  features 
grew  deeper  until,  immobile  in  death,  they  seemed 
to  salute  the  passing  world  with  a  benediction  from 
the  heavenly  (August  25,  1270). 

With  the  breath  of  Louis  IX.  the  crusading  enter- 
prise of  Europe  may  be  said  to  have  finally  expired. 
The  movements  that  followed,  whatever  valor  may 
have  been  displayed  in  them,  were  as  the  waves  that 
continue  to  dash  themselves  to  pieces  on  the  rocky 
shore  after  the  tempest  that  stirred  them  has  died 
down. 

A  few  weeks  after  Louis's  death  Prince  Edward 
of  England  (afterwards  King  Edward  I.)  arrived  at 
Tunis  with  a  brave  troop  of  his  young  countrymen. 
The  African  coast  offering  no  field  for  adventures, 
he  went  the  following  spring  (1271)  to  Acre.  After 
various  raids  upon  the  neighboring  country,  and 
narrowly  escaping  death  by  the  poisoned  dagger  of 
an  assassin,  he  made  a  ten  years'  truce  with  the  Mos- 
lems and  returned  home. 

With  the  termination  of  this  treaty  the  Christian 
strongholds  fell  one  by  one  to  the  Moslems,  and  the 
dislodged  inhabitants  took  final  and  fatal  refuge  in 
Acre.  Here  were  gathered  the  heterogeneous  rem- 
nants of  Christian  populations,  together  with  as  di- 


The  Fall  of  Acre.  id*] 

verse  bands  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  who  for 
greed  or  piety  had  taken  the  sword  of  the  waning 
cause.  The  city  was  rent  with  dissensions,  the  vari- 
ous parties  contending  as  a  pack  of  dogs  for  the  last 
bone.  Even  the  Templars  and  Hospitallers  fought 
in  the  streets  for  such  shadows  of  military  honor  as 
might  be  left  in  the  general  disgrace.  Thus  for 
twenty  years  Acre  remained  a  monument  of  the 
mercy  or  indifference  of  the  Moslems. 

In  1 29 1  Pope  Nicholas  IV.  sent  a  band  of  seven- 
teen hundred  mercenaries  to  protect  the  place. 
These  men,  failing  to  receive  the  pay  promised 
them,  looted  the  stores  of  Saracen  merchants.  The 
Sultan  Khalil,  second  successor  of  Bibars,  demanded 
redress;  it  was  refused.  Khalil  marched  his  troops 
beneath  the  walls. 

The  capture  of  the  place  was  inevitable.  The  cer- 
tain destruction  that  awaited  them  affected  the  in- 
habitants as  once  the  people  of  Jerusalem,  who  cried, 
"  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die."  The 
revelry  of  the  self-abandoned  multitude  ceased  only 
in  their  ruin.  The  assault  of  the  foe  was  quickly  re- 
warded. Just  a  century  after  its  recovery  from  the 
Moslems  through  the  valor  of  Richard  Cceur  de  Lion, 
Acre  fell  back  again  to  their  possession.  Sixty  thou- 
sand Christians  were  borne  away  to  slavery  or  put  to 
death. 

Thus  faded  from  the  land  of  the  Christ  the  last  ray 
of  hope  of  its  occupation  by  His  people,  until  it  shall 
be  conquered  by  the  weapon  which  He  appointed — 
"  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  Word  of  God." 


RESULTS  OF  THE  CRUSADES. 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

KINGSHIP — UNITY  OF  EUROPE — THE  PAPACY — LIB- 
ERAL THOUGHT — INCREASED  KNOWLEDGE- 
ARTS — LITERATURE — COMMERCE— THE  TURK- 
ISH   POWER. 


HE  picture  of  Europe  at  the  inauguration 
of  the  crusades  in  the  eleventh  century, 
with  which  our  volume  opened,  is  very- 
different  from  that  in  which  we  would 
portray  the  thirteenth  century,  when  the 
militant  faith  had  practically  ceased  its  conflict  for 
the  possession  of  the  Holy  Land.  In  government, 
in  popular  morals,  in  education,  in  industrial  methods, 
and  in  reasonable  piety  the  world  had  greatly  ad- 
vanced ;  but  as  it  was  difficult  to  definitely  trace 
the  causes  of  the  crusades  in  the  earlier  era,  so  it 
would  be  unwise  to  attribute  to  their  influence  all 
the  changes  that  had  taken  place  during  their  con- 
tinuance. When  a  broad  river  debouches  into  a 
fertile  valley  it  is  natural  to  point  to  that  irrigating 

368 


Growth  of  European  Kingdoms.      369 

current  as  the  cause  of  the  abundant  vegetation ;  yet 
much  of  the  new  hfe  and  beauty  may  be  due  to  other 
springs  on  the  hillsides  and  to  better  conditions  of 
soil  and  climate.  There  were  certainly  at  work  in 
society  other  forces  than  those  which  either  illustrated 
or  resulted  from  the  military  movements.  The  great 
law  of  social  evolution  wrought  steadily,  sometimes 
using,  and  often  in  ways  aside  from,  the  crusading 
projects.  The  spirit  of  humanity— or,  we  may  more 
wisely  say,  the  Spirit  of  God  in  humanity— is  a  self- 
developing  power,  which  must  not  be  overlooked  by 
the  student  of  history.' 

We  have  already  observed   the   influence  of  the 
crusades  upon  the  growth  of  kingship,  especially  in 
France.     The  French  people  supplied  the  majority 
of  the  warriors,  and  their  sovereigns  were  the  fore- 
most  in  leading  and  supporting  the  great  endeavor. 
Quite  naturally  leadership  in  the  f^eld  compacted  the 
power  of  the  French  throne.    The  lords  who  followed 
the  king  abroad  were  less  disposed  to  dispute  his 
authority  at  home.     When  the  crusades  began,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  sway  of  the  king  was  limited  to 
the   neighborhood  of   Paris.      During   the   reign  of 
Louis  IX.,  which  witnessed  their  close,  there  were 
ceded  to  the  crown  by  their  feudal  lords  the  section 
of  Toulouse  between  the  Rhone,  the  sea,  and  the 
Pyrenees,  Chartres,  Blois,  Sancerre,  Macon,  Perche, 
Aries,  Forcalquier,  Foix,  and  Cahors,  while  at  the 
same 'time  England  relinquished  its   claim  to  Nor- 
mandy, Anjou,  Maine,  Touraine,  Poitou,  and  north- 
ern Saintonge,  thus  presenting  to  the  eye  almost  the 
present  map  of  France.     The  various  feudal  courts, 


2,jo  Results  of  the  Crusades. 

where  they  still  held  separate  jurisdiction,  yielded 
the  right  of  final  appeal  to  the  king  before  the  en- 
forcement of  their  decisions.  Anciently  the  barons 
and  clergy  of  France  had  been  accustomed  to  meet 
in  general  assembly  for  the  support  of  the  monarchy. 
For  over  a  century  preceding  the  first  crusade  such 
assemblies  had  not  been  held,  but  when  Louis  VII. 
embarked  upon  the  second  crusade  the  great  men  of 
all  sections  resumed  these  loyal  conventions.  It 
may  therefore  be  said  that  modern  France  was  born 
amid  the  throes  of  the  mediasval  holy  wars.  In 
Germany  the  case  was  different.  The  incessant 
quarrel  of  Pope  and  emperor,  to  which  the  various 
crusading  projects  gave  fuel,  weakened  imperialism 
in  central  and  southern  Europe.  The  English 
throne  doubtless  profited  by  the  part  taken  by  the 
people  in  the  foreign  adventures,  which  diverted 
the  ambition  of  the  most  restless,  who  would  other- 
wise have  more  seriously  assailed  the  sovereign  au- 
thority. Spain  was  still  occupied  largely  by  the 
Moors,  and  was  thus  prevented  from  sharing  to  any 
great  extent  in  the  Eastern  wars  upon  the  Infidels ; 
but  the  engagement  of  so  much  of  the  Moslem 
energy  in  defending  its  distant  lands  allowed  the 
Spaniards  to  slowly  accrete  their  strength  for  the  final 
expulsion  of  the  Moors  and  the  establishment  of  an 
undivided  Spanish  government,  two  centuries  later, 
under  Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 

Another  effect  of  the  crusades  was  the  birth  of  a 
distinctly  European  sentiment.  Men,  however  diverse 
in  blood  and  country,  could  not  Hve  for  a  generation 
among  common  dangers,  and  be  daily  actuated  by 


Ujiity  of  Europe^Prestige  of  the  Papacy.  371 


common   purposes,  without    realizing   brotherhood. 
The  Celt  the  Frank,  the  Italian,  and  the  Teuton  saw 
that  they  were  more  alike  than  diverse  when  facmg 
the  Asiatic.    The  followers  of  barons  from  either  side 
the  Rhine  or  the  opposite  slopes  of  the  Apennines 
dropped   their   peculiar  war-cries  and  adopted  the 
universal  "  Deus  vult!"     In  time  the  Prankish  lan- 
guage,  the    speech   of    the   greater   number  of  the 
crusaders,  came  to  be  the  universal  medium  of  com- 
mercial, military,  and  diplomatic  intercourse.      It  no 
longer   belonged   exclusively    to    the    subjects   of   a 
French  king,  but  was  in  a  measure  continental.    The 
title  "Frank"  meant  anybody  from  the  lands  north 
of  the  Mediterranean  and  west  of  the  Greek  provinces. 
The  various  nations  of  Europe  came  to  feel  less  jeal- 
ousy of  the  dominant  race  than  fear  of  the  hostile 
civilization  whose  armies    were    massed    along    the 
eastern  boundaries  of  the  Continent.     Thus  the  pro- 
ject of  Hildebrand  to  unite  Christendom  by  means 
of  a  crusade  was  successful  in  a  way  he  did  not  con- 
template—the gathering  of  European  peoples  into  a 
secular  as  well  as  an  ecclesiastical  unity. 

The  papal  power,  however,  was  that  chiefly  af- 
fected by  the  crusades,  both  to  its  advantage  and  its 
disadvantage. 

Great  wealth  came  to  the  Papacy  from  the  many 
estates  which  departing  crusaders  left  in  either  its 
possession  or  trusteeship.  Thus  Godfrey  of  Bouillon 
alienated  large  parts  of  his  ancestral  holdings  by 
direct  gift  to  the  ecclesiastics.  Many  returning  home 
from  Palestine,  broken  in  health  and  spirit  by  their 
trials,  insanely  depressed  with  the  "  vanity  of  life," 


372  Results  of  the  Crusades. 

ended  their  days  in  monasteries,  which  they  endowed 
with  the  remnant  of  their  estates.  The  Pope,  having 
acquired  charge  of  and  responsibility  for  the  crusading 
venture,  affixed  a  tax  upon  the  secular  clergy  and 
religious  houses.  This  was  at  first  spent  legitimately 
in  maintaining  the  enterprises  afield,  but  the  immense 
revenues  were  gradually  diverted  to  the  general  uses 
of  the  church.  In  the  year  1 1 15  the  great  Countess 
Matilda  deeded  all  her  domain  to  the  Pope.  This 
addition  to  the  landed  wealth  of  the  Papacy  amounted 
to  perhaps  one  quarter  of  Italy,  and  constituted  the 
bulk  of  the  modern  temporal  possessions  of  the  holy 
see.  To  its  own  local  property  the  Papacy  had  also 
added  acquisitions  in  all  countries,  until  it  held 
throughout  Europe  a  large  part,  if  not  the  greater 
proportion,  of  the  land. 

The  political  influence  of  the  Pope  was  at  the  same 
time  greatly  extended  by  the  appointment  of  papal 
legates.  Heretofore  the  Holy  Father  had  on  oc- 
casion delegated  representatives,  who  in  his  name 
should  investigate  causes  and  settle  disputes  at  a 
distance  from  Rome.  During  the  crusades  this  lega- 
tine  authority  was  systematized  by  the  organization 
of  a  definite  body  of  men.  The  Pope  was  thus  im- 
personated at  every  court  and  in  every  emergency. 
A  controversy  in  London  or  Jerusalem  was  settled 
by  one  who  on  the  spot  spoke  as  the  Vicegerent  of 
God.  If  at  times  the  mistakes  of  legates  imperilled 
faith  in  the  papal  infallibility,  as  a  rule  they  kept  the 
world  in  awe  by  the  terror  of  the  imagined  ubiquity 
of  the  divine  presence. 

Another  great  advantage  accruing  to  Rome  from 


Prestige  of  the  Papacy. 


o  /  o 


the  crusades  was  in  the  establishment  of  a  closer  bond  •' 
between  the  church  and  the  individual.  Urban  II. 
had  absolved  all  crusaders  from  accountability  to 
their  secular  lords  during  their  absence  at  the  seat  of 
war.  In  the  enthusiasm  of  the  moment  the  lords  had 
acquiesced  in  this  as  a  temporary  arrangement;  but 
they  soon  lamented  their  unwisdom  in  this  concession. 
The  spirit  of  ecclesiastical  obedience  was  sedulously 
cultivated  by  priest  and  legate,  who  pledged  tem- 
poral and  eternal  blessings  to  those  who,  whatever 
their  attitude  to  their  former  masters,  were  now 
faithful  to  the  Pope.  Loyalty  to  the  secular  lord  was 
never  restored  as  of  old.  In  the  common  thought 
the  pontiff  was  the  great  king  and  the  real  comman- 
dant of  armies.  Providence  was  not  more  omnipresent 
than  the  care  of  the  Holy  Father,  and  the  judgment- 
seat  of  heaven  was  seemingly  transferred  to  every  camp 
and  every  home  that  was  accessible  to  a  Roman  agent. 
The  crusades  against  the  Eastern  Infidels  inspired 
audacity  and  presumption  in  the  church,  which  sug- 
gested crusades  elsewhere.  Whoever  was  not  Cath- 
olic was  regarded  as  the  Christians'  prey.  Preachers 
authorized  by  Rome  stirred  up  the  faithful  in  Saxony 
and  Denmark  to  convert  by  the  sword  the  pagans 
lixing  along  the  shores  of  the  Baltic.  An  army  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  wearing  upon  their 
breasts  a  red  cross  on  the  background  of  a  circle, 
symbolizing  the  universality  of  Christ's  kingdom, 
devastated  pagan  cities  and  burned  idolatrous  temples, 
and  after  three  years  secured  from  the  leaders  a 
promise  to  make  their  people  Christian — a  task  more 
difficult  than  it  had  been  before,  since  the  half-savage 


374  Results  of  the  Crusades. 

people  had  now  learned  that  Christianity  could  be 
as  cruel  as  their  own  paganism.  Indeed,  everything 
that  was  not  consecrated  to  Roman  Christianity  be- 
came the  lawful  spoil  of  whoever,  wearing  the  cross 
upon  his  breast,  dared  to  take  it.  The  crusading  zeal 
became  thus  a  habit  of  the  Christian  mind,  and  led 
to  the  horrors  of  the  Inquisition  in  later  days. 

While  Rome  thus  profited  in  many  ways  by  the 
crusades,  it  must  also  be  noted  that  the  Papacy  failed 
to  maintain  to  the  end  the  prestige  it  had  acquired 
in  the  earlier  period  of  the  movement.  Pope  Inno- 
cent III.  (1198-1216)  carried  the  Hildebrandian 
policy  to  its  highest  realization.  The  emperor  was 
forced  to  accept  his  crown  from  the  hands  of  the 
Holy  Father,  and  also  to  demit  the  right  he  had  long 
contended  for  of  electing  the  papal  incumbent.  The 
entire  episcopacy  in  Europe  was  in  the  Pope's  control 
and  wrought  his  will,  even  in  England.  But  with 
Gregory  IX.  (1227-41)  the  pile  of  papal  autocracy 
began  to  totter.  This  Pope,  notwithstanding  he 
had  twice  excommunicated  the  emperor,  was  ulti- 
mately obliged  to  yield  to  the  secular  will.  His 
unchristian  hauteur,  and  the  rancor  with  which  his 
successor,  Innocent  IV.,  pursued  the  emperor,  lost 
the  papal  chair  much  of  the  respect  of  the  Catholic 
world.  Soon  the  various  governments  came  to  resent 
the  absolutism  of  the  throne  on  the  Tiber.  In  1253 
Robert  Grosseteste  protested  against  the  papal  exac- 
tions in  England,  notwithstanding  the  king  was  utterly 
subservient  to  Rome,  and  thus  he  merited  the  title, 
v/hich  history  has  given  him,  of  one  of  the  great 
fathers  of  English  liberty.     Twenty-six  years  later 


Lost  Prestige  of  tJic  Papacy.  375 

(1279)  England  enacted  the  Statute  of  Mortmain, 
which  forbade  the  aHenation  of  property  to  rehgious 
bodies  without  the  consent  of  the  secular  authority. 

A  similar  sentiment  was  working  in  France.  Prob- 
ably what  is  known  as  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  of 
Louis  IX.  (1268)  is  not  genuine,  but  the  revolt  of 
that  royal  saint  against  the  assessments  of  Rome 
without  consent  of  the  throne  is  undoubted,  and 
Louis  may  be  said  to  have  revived  the  ancient  Gal- 
ilean liberties,  which  for  a  century  and  a  half  had 
apparently  been  dead.  A  bull  of  Boniface  VIII.  in 
1298  caused  open  rupture  between  France  and 
Rome. 

With  Boniface  the  Papacy  was  utterly  humiliated. 
In  1 309,  within  eighteen  years  of  the  fall  of  Acre 
into  the  hands  of  the  Moslems,  the  popes  were  in 
exile  at  Avignon,  and  the  government  of  the  church 
became  the  foot-ball  of  secular  ambition.  Clement 
V.  (1305-12)  ascended  the  papal  throne  as  the 
creature  of  Philip  the  Fair  of  France,  and  was  forced 
to  lend  himself  to  that  monarch's  cruel  and  unjust 
persecution  of  the  Templars,  which  order  was  abol- 
ished and  its  Grand  Master  burned  at  the  stake  in 
1312. 

With  the  diminished  prestige  of  the  Papacy  came 
the  renaissance  of  freer  thought  throughout  the  y 
world.  The  failure  of  the  crusades  to  conquer  the 
Moslem,  and  the  futile  experiments  of  war  upon 
heretical  sects  like  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses, 
led  to  a  partial  suppression  of  the  epidemic  for  force- 
ful conversions,  and  to  a  healthful  recollection  of  our 
Saviour's  command  to  Peter,  "  Put  up  thy  sword." 


2,^6  Results  of  the  Crusades. 

In  this  better  condition  of  the  human  mind  germi- 
nated the  modern  evangehcal  methods,  the  first-fruit 
of  which  was  to  appear  in  the  Protestant  Reforma- 
tion. 

There  was  something  in  the  hfe  of  the  crusaders  that 
was  favorable  to  the  growth  of  a  new  pohtical  senti- 
ment, a  popular,  not  to  say  a  democratic,  impulse, 
which  directly  conduced  to  our  modern  civil  Hberties. 
In  their  long  and  adventurous  marches,  in  the  common 
camp  and  fighting  together  within  or  beneath  the  same 
fortresses,  the  lord  and  his  retainers  came  close  to 
one  another.  The  common  man  saw  that  his  mus- 
cles were  as  strong,  his  mind  as  astute,  his  character 
as  good,  as  that  of  his  crested  superior.  Manhood 
rediscovered  itself  on  those  Eastern  plains.  The  re- 
turned knight  could  no  longer  disdain  intercourse  with 
the  brave  men  whose  hamlet  nestled  beneath  his 
castle  walls.  Their  common  courage,  the  many  scenes 
with  which  both  classes  were  familiar,  the  dangers 
they  had  shared,  were  repeated  in  story  and  song 
about  the  castle  gate.  Aristocratic  presumption  more 
than  once  evoked  insurrection  among  the  brawny 
fellows,  who  sang: 

"  We,  too,  are  men  ; 
As  great  hearts  have  we, 
And  our  strength  as  theirs." 

In  their  home  forays  there  were  to  be  seen,  together 
with  the  ensigns  of  the  feudal  lords,  the  popular  ban- 
ners of  the  parishes.  Indeed,  the  new  power  of  the 
people  came  to  be  the  reliance  of  the  king  in  his 
contest  with    rebel   lords.      Thus   everywhere  were 


Popula r  L iberty — A  rts — Educa iion .     2>11 

silently  germinated  the  forces  of  the  commune  and 
of  the  Third  Estate  in  France,  whose  first  assembly- 
was  held  in  1302.  In  12 15  England  secured  for 
itself  Magna  Charta,  the  central  regulation  of  which 
was  that  no  freeman  should  "  be  taken,  imprisoned, 
or  damaged  in  person  or  estate  but  by  the  judgment 
of  his  peers  "  and  "  by  laws  of  the  land,"  a  grant  to 
liberty  which  stood  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Pope 
declared  it  to  be  null  and  void.  In  1265  there  came 
together  the  first  regular  Parliament  of  England  with 
the  House  of  Commons  a  constituent  branch. 

To  the  crusades  we  must  attribute  much  of  the 
increased  knowledge  of  men  and  the  quickening  of 
inquiry  into  every  department  of  human  welfare. 
The  crusaders  mingled  with  their  enemies  in  the  lull 
of  active  warfare,  and  especially  became  familiar  with 
the  arts  and  customs  of  the  Greeks,  their  pseudo- 
allies.  The  immense  treasures  of  art  secured  by  the 
capture  of  Constantinople,  and  displayed  in  every 
centre  of  Western  population,  inspired  aesthetic  taste. 
Such  buildings  appeared  as  the  Palazzo  Vecchio, 
Santa  Croce,  and  the  Duomo  at  Florence  (about 
1290),  Westminster  Abbey  and  Salisbury  Cathedral 
(1220)  and  Cologne  Cathedral  (1248).  Pisano  (died 
1270)  revived  sculpture;  Cimabue  (1240-1300)  was 
the  first  of  modern  painters ;  the  new  impulse  to 
scientific  study  produced  Roger  Bacon  (1214-92). 
The  Troubadours  enlarged  the  romance  cf  the  lady's 
chamber  to  that  of  the  field  of  exploit,  where  Europe 
strove  with  Asia,  and  were  followed  by  the  great  poets 
Dante  (i 265-1 321)  and  Petrarch  (1304-74).  Splen- 
did seats  of  learning  sprang  up,  like  the  universities  of 


^yS  Results  of  the  Crusades. 

Oxford  (revived  in  1200),  Paris  (1206),  Padua  (1222), 
and  Cambridge  (1229).  The  march  of  the  soldier 
prompted  the  vo}'age  of  the  peaceful  traveller,  hke 
Marco  Polo,  who  in  1272  explored  the  world  as  far  as 
eastern  China.  The  crusader  learned  something  of 
the  science  of  government  from  the  Moslem,  espe- 
cially in  matters  relating  to  municipalities,  for  he  was 
compelled  to  note  that  Cairo  and  Damascus  were 
better  governed  than  Paris  and  London.  The  wars 
suggested  improvements  in  military  equipment  and 
manoeuvre ;  indeed,  the  art  of  handling  immense 
multitudes  of  men  as  a  single  body  was  learned  by 
the  knights,  who,  fighting  in  independent  groups, 
were  often  overwhelmed  by  the  massed  forces  of 
their  enemies. 

Commerce  during  this  time  began  to  spread  its 
white  wings  upon  all  seas.  For  two  hundred  years 
an  almost  incessant  line  of  vessels  passed  to  and  fro 
between  the  ports  of  the  eastern  and  western  Medi- 
terranean, conveying  supplies  to  the  soldiers.  As 
we  have  seen,  an  English  fleet  transported  the  army 
of  Richard  I.  along  the  Atlantic  coast.  Men  learned 
how  to  lade  ships  with  utmost  economy  of  space  and 
to  take  advantage  of  all  winds  in  sailing  them.  Roads 
were  opened  which  converged  to  the  point  of  depar- 
ture from  the  surrounding  country,  where  the  produce 
was  gathered  for  shipment.  Agents  were  scattered 
throughout  Europe  to  purchase  the  needed  articles 
in  small  quantities,  and  prepare  them  in  bulk  for  the 
voyage.  War  thus  fostered  the  commercial  habit 
and  skill  which  were  utilized  in  times  of  peace. 

Between  1255  and  1262  the  Hanseatic  League  or 


Commerce —  Wealth — Rise  of  Ottomans.  379 

Trade  Guild  of  the  Baltic  maritime  cities  was  formed, 
and  within  a  century  it  numbered  in  its  membership 
a  hundred  ports  and  inland  towns.  The  league 
organized  merchants  for  common  defence  against 
pirates,  the  settlement  of  disputes  by  arbitration, 
and  the  acquisition  of  commercial  favors  in  distant 
parts  of  the  world.  Maritime  laws  were  codified 
during  the  thirteenth  century,  under  the  title  of  "  II 
Consolato  del  Mare,"  and  were  generally  enforced 
along  the  Mediterranean.  According  to  a  tradition, 
the  code  called  "  The  Laws  of  Oleron  "  was  compiled 
by  Richard  I.  during  his  expedition  to  Palestine,  but 
with  more  probability  it  may  be  ascribed  to  the  reign 
of  Louis  IX.  of  France.  Bills  of  exchange  were  in 
vogue  as  early  as  1255. 

Commerce  brought  wealth  in  place  of  the  sordid 
poverty  which  had  marked  castle  and  cottage  in  the 
eleventh  century.  Trade  introduced  new  articles  of 
food  and  adornment,  at  first  to  gratify  the  palate 
and  eye  of  the  rich,  but  soon  to  elevate  the  scale  of 
living  everywhere.  Such  is  the  power  of  habit  that 
luxuries  easily  acquired  quickly  become  necessities. 
People  learned  no  longer  to  look  upon  "  man's  life 
as  cheap  as  beast's."  Industries  sprang  up  for  tlie 
home  manufacture  of  what  had-  originally  been 
brought  from  abroad.  Invention  was  stimulated, 
and  the  domestic  arts  took  their  place  in  the  fore- 
most line  of  the  new  civilization.  The  Dark  Ages 
had  given  way,  and  at  least  the  gray  light  of  the 
dawn  of  a  better  era  illumined  the  horizon. 

We  may  note  in  conclusion  the  influence  of  the 
crusades   in   staying   the   progress  of  that  gigantic 


V 


380  Results  of  the  Crusades. 

power  which  for  two  centuries  had  contested  with 
Christendom  the  possession  of  western  Asia.  So 
rapid  had  been  the  rise  and  spread  of  the  new  Mo- 
hammedan tide  of  Turkish  invasion  that,  but  for  the 
barrier  presented  by  the  crusaders,  it  would  have 
quickly  submerged  the  Balkan  peninsula,  as  it  had 
already  done  the  plains  of  Asia  Minor;  and  possibly 
it  would  have  poured  its  desolation  into  central  Eu- 
rope at  a  time  when  Europe  was  not  prepared  to 
resist,  as  it  did  four  hundred  years  later  when  the 
Turks  besieged  Vienna.  The  appeal  of  the  Greek 
emperors  for  the  help  of  their  Western  Christian 
brethren  in  the  eleventh  century  was  warranted  by 
the  seriousness  of  the  menace.  The  empire  was  then 
too  demoralized  to  withstand  alone  the  onset  of  these 
daring  hordes,  who  possessed  superior  powers  of 
physical  endurance,  great  mental  activity  quickened 
by  the  enterprises  they  planned  for  their  swords, 
and  courage  as  yet  undaunted  by  defeat.  What 
they  might  have  speedily  accomplished  but  for  their 
enforced  halt  of  two  hundred  years  on  the  eastern 
shores  of  the  Marmora  is  suggested  by  what  they 
did  almost  immediately  after  the  crusaders  withdrew 
their  wall  of  swords.  The  same  decade  that  witnessed 
the  fall  of  Acre  saw  the  founding  of  the  present 
dynasty  of  Ottoman  Turks  in  Nicomedia  (1299). 
In  1355  they  crossed  the  sea  and  planted  their  first 
European  stronghold  at  Gallipoli.  In  the  next  cen- 
tury (1452)  Mohammed  II.  was  enthroned  as  sultan 
in  Constantinople,  where  his  successors  have  for  four 
hundred  years  repelled  the  arms,  and  still  baffle  the 
diplomacy,  of  Europe. 


INDEX. 


Ab^larrl,  8,  162,  163. 

Accian,  103,  106,  109;   death,  iii. 

Acre,  123;  capture,  148;  by  Sala- 
din,  190;  siege  of,  215  sq. ;  fall, 
297;  divisions  in,  366;  final  fall, 

367- 

Adela,  148. 

Adhemar  of  Puy,  83,  105,  113; 
death,  120. 

Afdhal,  135,  137. 

Afdhal,  son  of  Saladin,  236. 

Aibek,  356,  361. 

Albigenses,  298,  322,  375. 

Aleppo,  154. 

Aletta,  8. 

Alexander  II.,  49. 

Alexander  III.,  15. 

Alexander  1V\,  363. 

Alexandria,  captured.  180. 

Alexius  I.,  74,  79,  81 ;  treachery, 
85;  vengeance  of  Godfiey,  86; 
character  and  policy,  88  sq. ,  244 ; 
at  Nicaei,  95  ;  refuses  help,  113, 
139;  jealousy,  147. 

Alexius  III., reply  to  Innocent  III., 
254;  protests  against  Venetian  in- 
vasion, 271  ;  cowardice,  276,  277. 

Alexius  IV.,  son  of  Isaac  Angeliis, 
25X,  263;  pica,  266;  joins  Dan- 
dolo,  268 ;  at  Constantinople, 
271,  279;  breach  with  crusa- 
ders, 281 ;  imprisonment  and 
death,  283. 

Alexius  Ducas,  282. 

Alfonso  VI.,  83. 

Algazzali,  60. 

Alhazan,  60. 

Alice,  French  princess,  222. 

Almoadam  Turan  Shan,  343,  353- 
355.361,362. 

38 


Alp-Arslan,  62. 

Amalric,  152,  179,  180;  death,  182. 

Amauiy  I.     See  Amalric. 

Aniaury  II.,  297. 

Amaury  do  Montfort,  333. 

Andrew  II.,  Hungary,  303,  305. 

Ant!ronicus,  244,  247. 

Angelus,  Isaac.   See  Isaac  Angelus. 

Anjou,  Duke  of,  355. 

Anna  Comnena,  quoted,  3,  72,  84; 

picture  of  Alexius,  88;  opinion 

of  crossbow,  92. 
Anselm,  7. 

Anselm,  Archbishop  of  Milan,  139. 
Ansclme  of  Ribeniont,  94. 
Antioch,  siege  of,  102  s(|.  ;  fall.  108 

sq.  ;  conquered  by  Bibars,  363. 
Aragon,  King  of,  363. 
Archambaud,  172. 
Arculf,  Bishop,  67. 
Arkas,  122. 

Arnold  de  Brescia,  163,  198. 
Arnold  de  Rohes,  128, 135. 
Arsuf,  138,  141,  145;  destroyed  by 

Bibars,  363. 
Ascalon,  136;  capture,  179,  190. 
Assassins,  228,  229. 
Assizes  of  Jerusalem,  142. 
.\sur,  138,  141,  145. 
Athareb,  154. 
Atheling,  Edgar,  122. 
.'\udc,  20. 
Augustine,  66. 
Avicenna,  60. 
Avignon,  375. 
Ayoub,  176,  181. 
Aziz,  son  of  Saladin,  236. 
Bacon,  Francis,  11. 
Bacon,  Roger,  11,  377. 
Baldwin    I.,   83;    at   Tarsus,  99; 


382 


Index. 


quarrel  with  Tancred,  99;  de- 
fection, 100;  submission  to 
Pope,  142;  character,  144 ;  King 
of  Jerusalem,  144  sq. ;  exploits, 
144  sq. ;  marriage,  148;  death, 
149. 

Baldwin  II.,  145, 147;  succeeds  to 
throne  of  Jerusalem,  150;  char- 
acter, 150;  captured,  150;  lib- 
erated, 152;  died,  152;  helps 
Moslems,  154;  Templars,  158. 

Baldwin  III.,  152,  153,  173; 
against  Nourredin,  178,  179; 
death,  179. 

Baldwin  IV.,  182  sq. 

Baldwin  V.,  184. 

Baldwin  I.,  Constantinople,  21; 
assaults  Constantinople,  275 ; 
elected  Emperor  of  Constanti- 
nople, 292,  293;  strife  with 
Boniface,  293 ;  death,  294. 

Baldwin  II.,  Constantinople,  322, 

332.. 

Baldwin  du  Bourg.  See  Baldwin 
II. 

Balian  d'Iselin,  191. 

Bahol,  John,  363. 

Baneas,  358. 

Barbarossa,  34,  198;  character, 
209;  third  crusade,  209  sq.,  212; 
treatment  of  Greeks,  212;  death, 
213. 

Earonius,  "  Dark  Ages,"  6. 

Barthelemi,  Peter,  114,  118;  Or- 
deal, 119. 

Bavaria,  Duke  of,  140. 

Beauvais,  Bishop  of,  24. 

Becket,  Thomas  a,  200. 

Beirut,  fall  of,  148. 

Benedict  III.,  69. 

Benedict  VIII.,  57. 

Benedict  IX.,  45. 

Ben-Musa,  60. 

Berengaria,  222. 

Berenger,  7. 

Bernard  of  Brittany,  67. 

Bernard  of  Gairvaux,8,23 ;  against 
Ab^lard,  162;  second  crusade, 
164,  166  sq. ;  failure  and  death, 
177;  opinion  of  Henry  II., 
201. 


Bernard  of  Clugny,  hymn,  i. 

Berthier  of  Orleans,  hymn,  I. 

Bertrade,  152. 

Bertrand,  148. 

Bethlehem,  124. 

Bibars    Bendoctar,   345-347.   353. 

362,363,365. 
Bibliography,  v.-ix. 
Biblus,  fall  of,  148. 
Blachern,  palace  of,  250. 
Blanche  of  Castile,  330,  336,  357, 

358. 

Blondel,  234. 

Bohemond  of  Taranto,  83  sq. ;  re- 
lations to  Alexius,  87,89,  90;  at 
Antioch,  105,  106;  treats  for 
sovereignty  of  Antioch,  108; 
enters  Antioch,  no;  quarrel 
with  Raymond,  120, 121 ;  attacks 
Maarah,  121 ;  submission  to 
Po; :e,  142,  144,  145  ;  exploits, 
147  sq. ;  death,  148 ;  invades 
Gri  ek  dominions,  247. 

Boniface  VIIL,  humiliation  of  Pa- 
pacy, 375- 

Boniface  of  Montferrat,  258,  259, 
261,  268,  271 ;  assaults  Constan- 
tinople, 275;  plots,  282;  emper- 
orship, 292 ;  disloyalty,  293 ; 
death,  294. 

Bouvines,  battle  of,  302. 

Bozrah,  153. 

Brabant,  Duke  of,  237,  240. 

Brunhilde,  24. 

Bruno,  60. 

Bucolion,  palace  of,  250. 

Byron,  quoted,  294. 

Csesarea,  captured  by  Baldwin, 
145  ;  destroyed  by  Bibars,  363. 

Caesarea  on  the  Orontes,  179. 

Csesarea  Pliilippi,  35S. 

Cairo,  343. 

Cahxtus  II.,  162. 

Cambray,  Bishop  of,  68. 

Cambridge,  University  of,  378. 

Capitularies  of  Charlemagne,  35, 
48. 

Capuano,  Peter,  262. 

Carac,  fall  of,  214. 

Carismians,  324  sq. 

Castile,  King  of,  363. 


Index. 


■H 


Celibacy,  48. 

Ceiicius,  70. 

Chailcmagnc,  17,  19,  48,  55,  67, 
242  ;  capitularies  of,  35,  48. 

Charles  Martcl,  56. 

Charles  the  Bold,  56. 

ChepKer-Eddour,  343,  353-355, 
361,  302. 

Chivalry,  rules,  etc.,  26  sq. 

Chosroes,  66,  133. 

Cid,  the,  58,  83. 

Cimahuc,  377. 

Civilat,  massacre,  81. 

Clarendon,  Assizes  of,  200. 

Clement  II.,  46. 

Clement  V'.,  375. 

Clermont,  Council  of,  74. 

Cologne  Cathedral,  377. 

Colonian,  King  of  Hungary,  79, 
80. 

Commune,  377. 

Comnena,  Anna.  See  Anna  Com- 
nena. 

Comnenus,  Isaac,  244. 

Comnenus,  John,  152. 

Conrad,  brother  of  Boniface,  258. 

Conrad,  marshal  of  German  em- 
pire, 139. 

Conrad  III.,  167,  170;  at  Jerusa- 
lem, 173;  Damascus,  145;  re- 
turn, 176. 

Conrad  IV.,  334,  357. 

Conrad  of  Montferrat,  214;  .nt 
Acre,  216;  claims  to  Jerusalem, 
218;  supported  by  Philip  Au- 
gustus, 223;  plots,  227;  assassi- 
nated, 228. 

Constance,  daughter  of  Philip  I., 
148. 

Constantine,  65. 

Constantine,  minister  of  finance, 
277. 

Constantinople,  history  of,  242  sq. ; 
great  fire,  281  ;  fall,  284  sq. ; 
Latin  kingdom,  291  sq. ;  weak- 
ness, 322,  328. 

Constantinople,  Patriarch  of,  287. 

Corfu,  268  sq. 

Councils,  Lateran,  49,  198. 

Common,  Cardinal,  302. 

Cross,  True,  133. 


Crusade,  first,  78  sq.,82  sq.,91  sq., 
96  sq.,  loi  sq.,  lo8  sq.,  112  sq., 
120  so.,  134  sq. ;  influence,  156 
sq.,  100  sq. 

Crusade,  second,  cause,  155,  165, 
166  sq. 

Crusade,  third,  206  sq.,  215  sq., 
219  sq. 

Crusade,  fourth,  242  sq.,  252,  253 
sq.,  260  sf].,  268  sq.,  274  sq.,  284 
sq.,  291  s<|. 

Crusade,  f(^urtli,  pseudo,  241, 

Crusade,  fifth,  301  sq. 

Crusade,  sixtii,  313  sq. 

Crusade,  seventh,  328  sq. 

Crusade,  eighth,  361  sq. 

Crusade,  Children's,  298  sq. 

Crusades,  fascination  of  subject,  i ; 
causes,  3  sq. ;  state  of  society,  6 
sq.,  40  sq.  ;  papal  policy,  43  sq.  ; 
results,  368  sq.  .See  Crusade, 
First,  Second,  etc.,  Chivalry, 
Feudalism,  Mohammedanism, 
Peter  the  Hermit,  Pilgrimages, 
Urban  II. 

Cyprus,  222,  228. 

Dagobert,  142,  144. 

Dahir,  son  of  .Saladin,  236. 

D.imascus,  Prince  of,  152,  153. 

Damascus,  siege  uf,  174  sq. ;  fall, 
296. 

Damascus,  Sultan  of,  relations  to 
Louis  IX.,  356,  358. 

Damasus  II.,  46. 

Damietta,  siege  of,  305,  306,  309; 
victory  of  Louis  IX.,  338  sq. ; 
surrender,  353  sq. 

Dandolo,  Henry,  248,  251,  252, 
256,  257;  perfidy,  260  sq.  ;  at- 
tacks Zara,  264 ;  joineil  by  Alex- 
ius, 268  ;  diplomacy,  268  sq.  ; 
captures  Golden  Horn,  272;  at- 
tack on  Constantinople,  275; 
further  plots,  280,  282 ;  second 
attack,  284  sq. ;  refuses  to  con- 
test election  to  kingdom  of  Con- 
stantinople, 291,  292;  his  choice, 
292 ;  death,  294. 

"Dark  Ages,"  according  to  Baro- 
nius,  6. 

Darom,  229. 


384 


Index. 


Domenicho,  Michaeli,  151. 

Dominic,  19. 

Dorylseum,  battle  of,  96  sq. 

Ducas,  Alexius,  282. 

Du  Guesclin,  10. 

Duomo,  377. 

Edessa,  fall  of,  154,  155. 

Edgar  Atheling,  122. 

Edmund,  prince  of  England,  363. 

Edward,  prince  of  England,  363, 
366. 

Egypt,  caliph  of,  105,  122. 

Eleanor,  Queen,  167, 171  ;  rupture 
with  Louis,  173;  divorce,  198; 
character,  201 ;  released  by 
Richard,  202 ;  appeals  to  Pope, 
233 ;  ransom  of  Richard,  234. 

Eleemon,  John,  157. 

Elizabeth  of  Hungary,  316. 

Elvira,  daughter  of  Alfonso  VI., 

Emico,  80. 

England,  during  crusades,  370; 
Magna  Charta,  377;  Parliament, 

377- 

Eremi,  7. 

Estate,  Third,  377. 

Eustace,  son  of  Godfrey,  83. 

Eustace  Grenier,  151. 

Evrard  des  Barras,  172. 

Exerogorgo,  siege  of,  81. 

Fakr  Eddin,  340,  345. 

Fatimites,  181. 

Feudalism,  32  sq. 

Finlay,  quoted,  62. 

Floiine,  104. 

Foulcher  of  Chartres,  110;  deser- 
tion, 113;  scepticism,  115. 

Foulque  of  Anjou,  152,  158. 

P^oulques  the  Black,  20,  69. 

P'rance,  effect  of  crusades  on,  161 ; 
at  close  of  crusades,  369. 

Francis  of  Assisi,  I9,.308,  309. 

"  Frank,"  meaning,  371. 

Frankfort,  Synod  of,  49. 

Frederick  I.     See  Barbarossa. 

Frederick  II.,  fifth  crusade,  302; 
sixth  crusade,  313  sq. ;  life  and 
character,3l3  sq. ;  acquires  Jeru- 
salem, 319;  returns,  321,  323; 
relations  to  Innocent  IV.,  329, 


334;    generosity,    337;    death, 

357. 
Frederick  of  Swabia,  209, 213, 218. 
Frotmonde,  69. 
Fulque,  priest,  254. 
Gaita,  24. 
Galata,  273. 
Galileo,  60. 
Garnier,  144. 
Gautier  of  Brienne,  327. 
Gaza,  326. 
Genghis  Khan,  324. 
Geoffrey,  son  of  Henry  II.,  201. 
Geoffrey  de  Sargines,  349. 
Gerard,    Master   of    Hospitallers, 

157- 

Gerard  of  Avernes,  141. 

"  German  tax,"  246. 

Germany,  during  crusades,  370. 

Ghibelline,  334. 

Gibbon,  quoted,  79,  81,  89. 

Gilbert,  172. 

Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  8;  career, 
82  sq. ;  expedition,  86 ;  rela- 
tions to  Alexius,  86 ;  at  Dory- 
lgeum,97;  Antioch,  107;  straits, 
113;  discretion,  120;  services  to 
Moslems,  121;  attacks  Jerusa- 
lem, 121  sq. ;  spoils,  133 ;  Baron 
of  Holy  Sepulchre,  134  sq. ;  As- 
calon,  136  sq. ;  quarrel  with 
Raymond,  138;  rule,  140;  at- 
tacks Asur,  141 ;  submission  to 
Pope,  142 ;  Assizes  of  Jerusalem, 
142;  death  and  character,  142, 
143;  assists  Hospitallers,  157; 
gifts  to  Papacy,  371. 

Godric,  146. 

Golden  Horn,  captured,  273. 

Gottschalk,  80. 

Green,  quoted,  21. 

Gregory  V.,  45. 

Gregory  VI.,  45. 

Gregory  VII.     See  Hildebrand. 

Gregory  IX.,  300,  315,  316  sq., 
322,323;  weakness,  374. 

Grosseteste,  Robert,  374. 

Guelph,  334. 

Guibert,  antipope,  50. 

Guibert,  quoted,  77,  105. 

Guiscard,  Robert,  24,  83,  84,  247. 


Index. 


3S5 


Guizot,  quoted,  33,  37,  199;  por- 
trait of  Richard  I.,  202;  of 
Louis  \  III.,  330. 

Guntlier,  28S,  2S9. 

Guy  d'Ibelin,  354. 

Guy  of  Lusigiian,  1S5,  188,  189; 
disregards  oath,  214;  maintains 
riglit  to  sceptre,  21S;  supported 
by  Ricliard,  223  ;  Cyprus,  228. 

Hadrian  IV.,  201. 

Hallani,  quoted,  9,  li,  30,  34. 

Hamah,  154. 

Hanifs,  52. 

Hanseatic  League,  378. 

Harding,  147. 

Haroun-al-Raschid,  55,  67. 

Hassan,  228. 

Helena,  65,  133. 

Henry,  brother  of  Baldwin,  294. 

Henry  I.,  England,  21,  138,  164. 

Henry  II.,  England,  34;  crown 
of  Jerusalem,  186;  possessions, 
199,  201 ;  death,  201 ;  relations 
to  Philip  Augustus,  206  sq. 

Henry  III.,  England,  331,  357. 

Henry  III.,  Germany,  46. 

Henry  IV.,  Germany,  papal  oppo- 
sition, 23,  47,  49;  relations  to 
Godfrey,  82. 

Henry  V.,  Germany,  l6l. 

Henry  VI.,  Germany,  232,  234, 
237;  in  Sicily,  238  ;  death,  240 ; 
"German  tax,"  246. 

Henry  Dandolo.     See  Dandolo. 

Henry  of  Hesse,  334. 

Henry  of  Sicily,  247. 

Heraclius,  Greek  emperor,  67,  133. 

Heraclius,  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem, 
186. 

Herbaud,  10. 

Hezas,  emir  of,  121. 

Hildebrand,  8,  39 ;  reforms,  44, 
46,47;  claims,  47  sq. ;  reliance 
on  emperor,  49;  bull  against 
Henry  IV.,  49  ;  negotiations 
with  Greeks,  50;  alliance  with 
Saracens,  58;  summons  against 
the  Turks,  62;  sends  Cencius 
on  pilgrimage,  70. 

Holy  Lance,  114  sq. 

Honorius  II.,  166. 


Honorius  ITT.,  303. 

Hospitallers,  156  sq. ;  Saladin's 
revenge,  190;  permitted  to  re- 
main in  Jerusalem,  193;  rival- 
ries, 236,  297,  367  ;  refuse  help 
to  Frederick  II.,  318;  overtures 
to  Louis  IX.,  338,  355  ;  at  Man- 
souraii,  345,  347. 

Hovenden,  quoted,  221. 

Hugh  Capet,  33. 

Hugh  de  Payen,  158. 

Hugh  de  Puzas,  219,  232. 

Hugh  of  Vermandois,  1 16,  140. 

Humphrey,  218. 

Iconium,  Sultan  of,  170,  246. 

Ida  of  Austria,  139,  140. 

Ida  of  Bouillon,  8,  82. 

"  II  Consolato  del  Mare,"  379. 

Innocent  II.,  162. 

Innocent  III.,  253,  262;  hastens 
crusaders,  265,  279 ;  rebuke, 
290;  preaches  fifth  crusade,  301- 
303  ;  guardianship  of  Frederick 
II.,  313  ;  absolute  power,  374. 

Innocent  IV.,  328,  329,  334,  357, 

,  374..  . 

Inquisition,  374. 

lolante,  314. 

Ireland,  time  of  Henry  TL,  200. 

Irene,  daughter  of  Isaac  Comnc- 
nus,  247. 

Irene,  opinion  of  Alexius,  88. 

Isaac,  King  of  Cyprus,  222. 

Isaac  Angelus,  211,  212,  217,  258, 
267,278,281,282. 

Isaac  Comnenus,  244. 

Isabella,  widow  of  Conrad,  228. 

Isabella,  wife  of  Amaury  TL,  297. 

Jaffa,  in  third  crusade,  226,  230, 
238;  conquered  by  Bibars,  363. 

James  of  Vitri,  302. 

Jean  Tristan,  351,  365. 

Jerome,  St.,  to  Paulinus,  66. 

Jerusalem,  Assizes  of,  142. 

Jerusalem,  Patriarch  of,  72,  303. 

Jerusalem,  under  Omar,  55 ;  fall 
of,  63  ;  ca]iturcil  by  Chosroes, 
66;  by  crusaders,  125  sq. ;  un- 
der Saladin,  192;  acquisition  by 
Frederick,  319;  carmgc  under 
Carismians,  32O,  327. 


;86 


Index. 


Jews,  persecution  of,  204. 
Joanna,  sister  to  Richard  I.,  222, 

227. 
John,  Cardinal,  247. 
John,  King  of  England,  232,  233  ; 

fifth  crusade,  302. 
John  VIII.,  56. 
John  X.,  57. 
John  Baliol,  363. 
John  Comnenus,  152. 
John  Eleemon,  157. 
John  of  Brienne,  297,298,307,  310, 

311,  318,  320,  322. 
Joinville,  Prince  de,  335,  336,  338, 

344,  347,  348,  350,  353-355, 358. 
Josselin  II.,  155. 
Josselin  de   Courtenay,   147,  150, 

154. 
Kanabos,  Nicholas,  282. 
Kerbogha,     109,    112,   115,    116; 

routed,  117;  revenge,  140. 
Khalil,  367. 
Kilidge-Arslan,   81,    91,   94,    97; 

routed,  117;  revenge,  139;  third 

crusade,  212. 
Koran.     See  Mohammed. 
Koutouz,  362. 
La  Marche,  331. 
Lance,  Holy,  1 14  sq. 
Lanfranc,  7. 
Lascaris,  275,  322. 
Lateran  Councils.     See  Councils. 
Leo  IX.,  46. 

Leopold  of  Austria,  227,  232  sq. 
Liegnitz,  battle  of,  325. 
Litz,  Martin,  288. 
Longchamp,  220,  232. 
Longsword,  William,  342, 345, 346. 
Lothaire,  164. 
Louis,  St.     See  Louis  IX. 
Louis,  St.,  laws  of,  34,  35. 
Louis  IV.  (the  Fat),  36,  161. 
Louis  VI.,  33. 
Louis VII.,  164,  166,167;  rupture 

with  Eleanor,  173;  at  Jerusalem, 

173;    Damascus,    174;     return, 

176 ;  divorce,  198. 
Louis  VIII.,  330. 
Louis  IX.,  330;  character,33l  sq.  ; 

seventh   crusade,  333,  335  sq. ; 

valor, 339,  346,  349 ;  illness,  348, 


350 ;  overtures  to  sultan,  348 ; 
prisoner,  350  sq.  ;  liberation, 
353  sq. ;  treaty  with  sultan,  358 ; 
broken,  358;  grief  at  death  of 
Blanche,  359 ;  return,  359,  360 ; 
eighth  crusade,  363  sq. ;  death, 
365,366;  revolt  against  Rome, 

375- 
Louis  of  Chartres  and  Blois,  255. 
Lucius  III.,  letter  to  Henry  II., 

186. 
Ludwig,  Landgrave  of  Thuringia, 

316. 
Lydda,  123. 

Lyons,  Council  of,  329. 
Maarah,  121. 
Mad  Hakem,  57,  68. 
Magna  Charta,  377. 
Malek-Ahdel,  192,  227,  236,  238, 

240;  treaty  with  Dandolo,  262, 

280 ;    renewal     of    truce,   297 ; 

policy,  304;  death,  306. 
Malek-Kamel,  308,  309,  316,  318, 

320. 
Malek-Shah,  62,  63. 
Mamelukes,  361  sq. 
Mansourah,  310,  343,  344  sq. 
Manuel,  168,  170,  179. 
Manzikert,  battle  of,  62. 
Marco  Polo,  378. 
Margaret  of  Hungary,  237,  241. 
Margarit,  Admiral,  214. 
Marguerite,   wife    of    Louis   IX., 

330,  335'  339. 34i»  35 1.  353. 354. 

359- 
Maria,  daughter  of  Manuel,  259. 
Maria,  widow  of  Isaac,  292. 
Maria  of  Constantinople,  246. 
Mariolatry,  53. 
Marozia,  44. 
Martin  Litz,  288. 
Mary,  daughter  of  Isabella,  297, 

298,  314. 
Matilda,  Countess,  8 ;  giftto  Papacy, 

372- 

Matilda,  wife  of  William  the  Con- 
queror, 21,  199. 

Matthew  Paris,  reference  to  Tar- 
tars, 325  ;  to  Blanche  of  Castile, 
330;  to  Henry  III.,  357. 

Melisende,  152,  173. 


Index. 


3^7 


Melun,  Count  of,  113. 

Merlin,  prediction  of,  202. 

Mersebure,  crusading  army  at,  80. 

Michael,  Emperor,  63. 

Michaud,  criticised,  3. 

Michelet,  quoted,  161. 

Milman,  t|uoted,  4,  132. 

Milo  de  I'lausy,  182.. 

Moguls,  324. 

Mohammed,  51  sq. 

Mohammed,  Sultan  of  Carismia, 

324- 

Mohammed  II.,  275,  380. 

Mohammedanism,  51  sq. 

Montferrat,  Marquis  of,  184,  214. 

Mortmain,  Statute  of,  375. 

Mourtzouphlos,  282,  283,  285,  294. 

Nahr  Falik,  225. 

Nazareth,  destroyed  by  Bibars,  363. 

Negmeddin,  338,  343. 

Nicsea,  fall  of,  91  sq. 

Nicephorus,  25. 

Nicetas,  quoted,  212,  270,  271,273, 
285-287. 

Nichita,  Bulgarian  prince,  79. 

Nicholas,  boy,  299. 

Nicholas  IV.,  367. 

Nicholas  Kanabos,  282. 

Nicholas  Roux,  271. 

Nisch,  Peter's  army  at,  79. 

Norgate,  quoted,  200. 

Nourredin,  155,  175;  character, 
178;  magnanimity,  179;  su- 
preme, 181  ;  death,  182. 

Octai,  324. 

Odoacer,  242. 

Oleron,  Laws  of,  379. 

Oliver,  20. 

Omar,  55. 

Ortuk,  73. 

Othello,  Shakespeare's,  59. 

Othman,  70. 

Otho,  contest  with  Philip  of  Swa- 
bia,  298,  302. 

Otho  the  Great,  34. 

Oxford,  University  of,  378. 

Padua,  University  of,  378. 

Palazzo  Vecchio,  377. 

Papacy,  effect  of  crusades  on,  i6l 
s(j.,  371  sq. 

Pans,  University  of",  378. 


Parliament,  English,  377. 

Paschal  II.,  23;  sanctions  Hospi- 
tallers, 157,  162. 

Paula,  companion  of  Jerome,  66. 

Paulinus,  66. 

Pears,  Edward,  quoted,  295. 

Pelagius,  Cardinal,  307,  309-311. 

Pelusium,  captured,  180. 

Pembroke,  Earl  of,  363. 

Peter  Barihelemi,  114,  118;  Or- 
deal, 119. 

Peter  Capuano,  262. 

Peter  the  Hermit,  not  solely  re- 
sjjonsible  for  crusades,  3  ;  career, 
71  sq.  ;  meets  chieftains,  91  ; 
desertion,  105 ;  messenger  to 
Kerbogha,  115;  before  Jerusa- 
lem, 129;  end  of  career,  138. 

Petrarch,  377. 

Pharamella  the  Moor,  196. 

Philip,  son  of  Louis  IX.,  365. 

Philip  I.,  148,  152. 

Philip  Augustus,  199,  201 ;  third 
crusade,  207  sq.,  219  sq. ;  anger 
at  Richard,  222 ;  declares  for 
Conrad,  223  ;  jealousies,  223  ; 
returns,  225 ;  plots,  232,  233, 
237;  fifth  crusade,  302. 

Philip  of  Swabia,  258,  261 ;  mes- 
sage to  Zara,  266 ;  contest  with 
Otho,  298 ;  emperorship,  292. 

Philip  the  Fair,  375. 

Phirous,  108,  109,  III. 

Piacenza,  Synod  of,  74. 

Pilgrimages,  64  sq. 

Pisano,  377. 

Poitiers,  Count  of,  343,  355. 

Portugal,  King  of,  363. 

Pragmatic  Sanction,  375. 

Ptolemals.     See  Acre. 

Ptolemais,  emir  of,  123. 

Ramleh,  123;  capture  of,  146. 

Raymond  d'Agiles,  133. 

Raymond  de  Puy,  157. 

Raymond  of  Poitiers,  1 72. 

Raymond  of  Toulouse,  22,  83  ;  ex- 
pedition, 87;  at  Doryloeum,  97; 
Antioch,  106;  defiance  of  Bohe- 
mond,  108 ;  straits  at  Antioch, 
113;  quarrels  with  Bohcmond, 
120,  121 ;  attacks  Maarah,  I2I ; 


38S 


Index. 


besieges  Arkas,  122;  Jerusalem, 
130,  131;  clemency,  133;  plots, 
135;  sulks,  136;  at  Ascalon, 
137;  claims  Ascalon,  137;  quar- 
rel with  Godfrey,  138 ;  after  first 
crusade,  139 ;  flight,  140  ;  sub- 
mission to  Pope,  142 ;  death, 
148. 

Raymond  of  Tripoli,  182, 183,  187, 
189. 

Redowan,  121. 

Renaud  of  Carac,  183,  189,  190. 

Renoart,  20. 

Reynier,  brother  of  Boniface,  259. 

Rheims,  Archbishop  of,  94. 

Rheims,  Council  of,  45. 

Richard  I,,  24,  34,  201 ;  character, 
202 ;  releases  Eleanor,  202 ; 
crowned,  203 ;  vow,  205 ;  reck- 
lessness, 208 ;  third  crusade,  219 
sq. ;  quarrels  with  Tancred  and 
Philip,  222,  223 ;  subdues  Cy- 
prus, 222 ;  declares  for  Guy, 
223 ;  massacres  Moslems,  225  ; 
at  Nahr  Falik,  225  ;  Jaffa,  226 ; 
finesse,  227 ;  retreat,  229,  230  ; 
recaptures  Jaffa,  230;  peace, 
231 ;  returns,  232 ;  prisoner,  232 
sq. ;  release,  234 ;  hatred  of 
Philip  Augustus,  237;  gives  Cy- 
prus to  Templars,  246 ;  tradi- 
tional author  of  "  Laws  of  Ole- 
ron,"  379. 

Richard  of  Cornwall,  323. 

Robert,  brother  of  Henry  I.,  Eng- 
land, 21. 

Robert  d'Artois,  342,  344,  347. 

Robert  de  Clari,  quoted,  260. 

Robert  Guiscard.     See  Guiscard. 

Robert  of  Flanders,  23,  85  ;  expe- 
dition, 87;  at  Antioch,  no. 

Robert  of  France,  18. 

Robert  of  Leicester,  233. 

Robert  of  Normandy,  70, 85  ;  expe- 
dition, 87 ;  at  Dorylaeum,  96  sq. ; 
desertion,  105  ;  refuses  help,  136 ; 
at  Ascalon,  137,  138;  end  of  ca- 
reer, 138. 

Roger  de  Wendover,  202. 

Roger  of  Sicily,  II,  168,  247. 

Roland,  20. 


RoUo,  7. 

Romanus  IV.,  62. 

Rosamond,  201,  202. 

Rudolph,  82. 

Rufinus,  Bishop  of  Acre,  189. 

Sa'di,  297. 

Safed,  destroyed  by  Bibars,  363. 

Saif  Eddin,  362. 

St.  John,  Knights  of.  See  Hos- 
pitallers. 

St.  Sophia,  Church  of,  250. 

Saladin,  176,  i8o ;  rise,  181 ;  defeat 
at  Ascalon,  183 ;  revenge  on  Re- 
naud, 183,  190 ;  victories,  187 
sq. ;  revenge  on  Templars,  190; 
fall  of  Jerusalem,  191  sq. ;  gen- 
erosity, 192,  193;  challenge  of 
Barbarossa,  210 ;  his  reply,  21 1 ; 
attacks  Tyre,  214 ;  Tripoli,  214; 
Carac,  214;  releases  Guy,  214; 
at  Acre,  215  sq.,  225 ;  courte- 
sies, 223,  224;  at  Nahr  Falik, 
225;  burns  Ascalon,  227;  fi- 
nesse, 227,  228 ;  captures  Jaffa, 
230;  peace,  231;  death,  235. 

Saladin's  tithe,  207,  208. 

Salisbury  Cathedral,  377. 

Santa  Croce,  377. 

Saracens.     See  Mohammedans. 

Saxony,  Duke  of,  237,  240. 

Scott,  Walter,  quoted,  24 ;  opinion 
of  Alexius,  88. 

Seljuk,  61. 

Semlin,  looted  by  Peter,  79. 

Shirkuh,  180. 

Sibylla,  184,  185,  192  ;  death,  2l8. 

Sidon,  capture,  149. 

Sigur  of  Norway,  149. 

Simeon,  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  72. 

Simon  de  Montfort,  237,  298. 

Sismondi,  quoted,  15. 

Soissons,  Bishop  of,  284,  293. 

Solyman,  63,  102. 

Stanley,  quoted,  19. 

Stephen,  boy,  299. 

Stephen,  King,  199. 

Stephen  of  Blois,  85,  87,  loi ;  de- 
sertion, 113,  139;   slain,  147. 

Stephen  of  Burgundy,  147. 

Suger  of  St.  Denis,  168,  1 76,  177, 
199. 


Index, 


389 


Sweno  of  Denmark,  104. 

Sylvester  II.,  7,  45. 

Tancred,  agent  of  NVilliam  II.,  247. 

Tancred  de  Ilauteville,  84,  85,  90, 
97;  at  Tarsus,  99;  quarrel  with 
Baldwin,  99;  character,  105; 
valor,  106;  at  Bethlehem,  124; 
Jerusalem,  131;  clemency,  133; 
Ascalon,  136  sq.  ;  Godfrey's 
right  hand,  141 ;  escape,  147; 
death  and  character,  149. 

Tancred  of  Sicily,  222. 

Tarik,  56. 

Tarsus,  99. 

Tartars,  324  sq.  ;  overtures  to  Louis 
IX,,  337  ;  progress,  362. 

Tasso,  quoted,  24,  25,  126. 

Templars,  158,  159;  Saladin's  re- 
venge, 190;  rivalries,  236,  298, 
367 ;  get  Cyprus,  246 ;  refuse 
help  to  Frederick  II.,  ^18;  over- 
tures to  Louis  IX.,  338;  at  Man- 
sourah,  345,  347;  ask  Louis  to 
remain  in  Syria,  355 ;  abolished, 

375- 
Teutonic  Knights,  159  ;  ask  Louis 

to  remain  in  Syria,  355. 
Theobald  of  Champagne,  228,  255, 

258. 
Theodora,  44. 
ITieodora,  daughter,  44. 
Theodora,  sister  of  Isaac  Angelus, 

259. 
Theodora,  wife  of  Baldwin  II.,  179. 
Theodore  Lascaris,  275,  322. 
Thibaut  V.,  322,  323. 
Thiliaut  of  Champagne,  164. 
Thierri,  172,  1 75. 
Thierry,  quoted,  12. 
Third  Estate,  377. 
Thoron,  239. 
Thoros,  100. 

Tiberias,  battle  of,  187  sq. 
Tolosa,  battle  of,  298. 
Tortosa,  122. 
Tripoli,    captured,     148;     resists 

Saladin,  214  ;  fall,  297. 


Tristan,  Jean,  357,  365. 

Troubadours,  377. 

Troyes,  Bishop  of,  284. 

Truce  of  God,  17. 

Tunis,  364. 

Turkomans,  358. 

Turks,  60   sq. ;  advance   of,   379, 

380. 
Tyre,  fall  of,  152,  297. 
Urban  IL,  not  solely  responsible 

for  crusades,  3  ;  his  opportunity, 

50,  63 ;  speech  at  Clermont,  70, 

74;     commissions     Peter,     72; 

synod  at  Piacenza,  74 ;  absolves 

crusaders,  373. 
Urban  III.,  194. 
Vataces,  322. 
Vaux,  Abbot  of,  264. 
Vecchio,  Palazzo,  377. 
Venice,  relations  with  East,  248 

See  Dandolo. 
Victor  III.,  45. 
Villehardouin,  255,  256,  263,  27S, 

285. 
Vivien,  23. 
Volkman,  80. 
Waldenses,  197,  198,  ^75. 
Waldo,  Peter,  197,  198. 
Walter  the  Penniless,  78. 
Warwick,  Earl  of,  363. 
Westminster  Abbey,  377. 
William,  brother  of  Tancred,  97. 
William  II. ,  Sicily,  247. 
William  of  Champeaux,  8. 
William  of  Orange,  23. 
William  of  Poitiers,  139,  140. 
William    of    Salisbury,   342,   345, 

346- 
William  of  Scotland,  201. 
William  of  Sicily,  247. 
William    of  Tyre,   80,    182,    184; 

third  crusade,  206  sq.,  213. 
William  Rufus,  21,  85. 
William  the  Conqueror,  21. 
Worms,  Concordat  of,  162. 
Zara,  261  sq. 
Zenghi,  152  sq. 


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